Awakened Dead
by K. Higurashi
Summary: Too curious for her own good, Kagome unseals a powerful and hot headed poltergeist from an old katana on the night of Halloween. He's rude, he's crude and possibly the sexiest boy she's ever met. Too bad for the dead part..IK
1. Halloween Night

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N: Inspired by fanfiction story _Thirteen Times_, authored by SnowShadowuser. Yes, the story was and Inuyasha fict and based on Bloody Mary. It's really good you should read it. Anyways on with my story inspired by the one I just mentioned! I hope you all enjoy it!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 1. Halloween Night**

"…And when she got home, there was a hook hanging on the handle of her car!" Kagome chuckled darkly, scaring the other girls out of their wits. Though her best friend Sango was not fazed by this, nor was the dramatic lighting of the flashlight doing anything for her. It all seemed too cheesy in her perspective, but at least the other girls were frightened. Honestly though, anything could spook those girls.. Yuka, Eri and Ayumi were a bunch of chickens to begin with.

"How about we move onto another story Kagome-chan." Sango suggested, filing her nails in boredom.

All five of the girls were currently squeezed into Kagome's room on her floor. They all had pillows in their grasp, and the lights were all out safe for the flashlight that was being passed around. None of the girls knew of any scary stories besides Kagome and at times Sango. Usually the original stories would be repeated, such as the hook man legend, the headless horseman tale, the bloody Mary story..

"Speaking of which…" Kagome mumbled to herself, "I know a new story! It's been passed down in our family for generations." She announced proudly.

"S-so that me-means it's… true?" Ayumi whimpered, hugging her pillow tighter.

"One hundred percent true." Kagome confirmed, finally earning Sango's interest since she had put down the nail file. "The story begins in the Sengoku Jidai, five hundred years ago if you don't know the time period.." She cleared her throat, "There once lived a half demon boy that was half dog demon and half human. He was never liked and preferred to be left alone by everyone.

"He had stumbled into a village one day in hopes of finding a necklace that was rumoured to have special powers. During his search he had fallen in love with a woman and forgotten about his quest. No one knows exactly what caused it, but the hanyou had sudden lost his mind during one night when the moon was full. He had slaughtered everyone in the village. Slitting their throats, ripping open their stomachs, tearing them apart limb from limb. He was wild with hatred and fury. Then when he was done, had moved on to the next village to kill all that carried a heartbeat.

"In the second village he had only managed to slay half of the population before a powerful demon and a priestess stopped him. He had been sealed away in his father's sword, destined to be in solitude for all of eternity." Kagome spoke, "A sword that was passed down in the miko's family for generations, until it fell into the hands of the Higurashi's." She grinned at the pale faces. "And I know how to break the spell." She taunted.

Yuka gasped, trying to breathe properly, "I..I—You—K-Kagome are not allowed to do what I think your are suggesting.." She tried to growl.

"Y-yeah!"

"Oh please, as if it's true. Look, that legend is over five hundred years old. Obviously parts of it changed over the years and someone decided to turn it into a scary story. I bet the real story is that a couple fell in love, that their love was forbidden but they ran away together living happily ever after, or some junk like that." Sango said boredly, "Honestly, it's probably not true."

"Yeah, you're probably right Sango-chan. But I am curious, do you have the sword Kagome?" Eri questioned after having calmed down.

"Somewhere in storage yes. Get this, I forgot to say that the night he lost his mind, was during All Hallows Eve, or rather Halloween." Kagome added.

"That's tomorrow." Yuka murmured.

"How are you supposed to break the spell Kagome?" Sango asked out of curiosity.

The blue eyed teenager thought for a moment, "I think you need one candle, and the sword.. Oh and the style is sort of like the bloody Mary story. You have to stand in front of the mirror with the sword in your hands and chant Tess….Tess…" She struggled to remember the word but shrugged it off, "Well the name of the sword thirteen times, raising it slowly until it's above your head and at the same time raising your voice while chanting until you scream it when the sword is above your head."

"And then…?" Sango raised her brow, clearly not convinced.

"I don't know." Kagome said blankly.

Sango snorted, "Bogus.. As if something like that would resurrect a murdering hanyou, of all things.." She laughed.

The three other girls laughed, leaving Kagome to sigh in annoyance. Her grandfather had told her that story when she was a child, and since he had bad memory… He ended up re-telling the story over the years again and again like it was a new tale.

Soon, Kagome had turned on her room lights, half blinding the girls for a moment. "I'll go look for snacks, you girls keep talking okay?" She announced cheerily, leaving them to their talk.

The house was quiet that night, only the giggles of her friends could be heard throughout the home if she chose to leave the door open, which she did. It was unnerving walking around the old home when no one but she and her friends were in it. Pouting lightly, Kagome had trudged down the stairs to go search in the kitchen for snacks. Personally, she believed the story her gramps told her. He may be an old coot, but he knew his legends fairly well.

_'Then why don't you prove to them it isn't bogus?'_ Piped a mental voice.

"Because if it is real, then I could be doing something stupid.." She murmured back, reaching into the kitchen cupboard for some low fat potato chips. She snatched two bags and some diet sodas, determined to walk back to her room, but her feet just wouldn't move. She couldn't really bring herself to move in that direction.

Sighing, she placed the snacks on the counter and walked towards the front door. Surely just a peek into the old shrine storage room would be alright and just enough to quench her curiosity. She had only recently learned how to break the spell, but had cast the thought away when her gramps had made her promise not to do such a foolish thing while he was around. Otherwise, she'd be on shrine cleaning duty until she left for college.

'But he isn't here, he's gone visiting his old friend outside of town..' She thought, putting on her shoes and leaving the home quietly. The girls wouldn't notice her missing for a while once they got onto the topic of boys. They had much to talk about when it came to that since Sango had an admirer, 'Miroku no doubt,' and the other girl were all fighting over Hojo who just so happened to be crushing on her, 'My luck sucks.'

By the time she arrived at the storage room, she was freezing and mentally kicking herself for not putting a jacket on top of her PJs before leaving. She had been able to open up the room without a problem, coughing a bit due to the dust that had collected since last spring. 'This place needs to be cleaned again, it smells way too moldy..' She entered cautiously, sneezing a few times while shuffling through old objects.

She had finally come across an old long box with several sutras glued on it. The lid clearly read "Tessaiga," And Kagome knew this was it. She sniffled and coughed, grabbing the box and quickly exiting the room. 'I knew it was a _Tess_ something. Ah! Fresh air!' She mentally cheered, breathing in happily. She had slammed the door shut and jogged back to her house with the item in tow.

Upon entering the house she was greeted by nothingness and sighed in relief. She could clearly hear Sango sputtering upstairs and knew that Ayumi must have brought up the Miroku subject.

"_That pervert! He doesn't know the meaning of love! Only lust_!"

Kagome chuckled, yup it was definitely the Miroku subject. She had carefully placed the box on the dining room table, examining it cautiously. Maybe now wasn't the best time to open it, but she was just so.. She wasn't even supposed to take it out of storage anyways, but it was just there! Maybe a peek couldn't hurt. She heard that the Tessaiga was a powerful blade that could kill a hundred demons in one stroke…

'The sutras are powerful, something Gramps could have never done.' She thought to herself. She knew that her Grandpa believed he had power, but truthfully it must have skipped his generation since Kagome was the one with it. She could sense auras without a problem and could perform a sealing spell in her sleep. Ask her to use a bow though and you've got a problem. She couldn't shoot an arrow if her life depended on it. Besides that, she could pretty much do some of your basic priestess things and mentally decided that she didn't need to know how to use a weapon during this day and age. It's not like back in the Sengoku Jidai where demons would simply come at you from nowhere.

'Demon's hardly exist anymore anyways. So really, what's the point in knowing how to use something as ancient as a bow and arrow?' Kagome mentally scoffed as she removed all the sutras from the box and set them aside for good measure. When she put the box back, she didn't want her grandfather knowing she took it out so keeping the sutras was a good thing.

Her heart was pounding in her ears when she finally got the courage to open the box. Her finger's wrapped around the long lid and she began to lift it gently.

"Kagome? What are you doing?"

Kagome squeaked, placing her hands behind her back nervously. Sango stood in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at her curiously, "I was—um well—the snacks—and uh.."

Sango smirked, "Judging by the way your acting, I'm thinking that the box there has something awesome in it, like that sword you were mentioning earlier?"

Curse her for being so observant, "No.." Her eyes stared holes into Kagome's head, "Okay it is! I just wanted to see it.."

"Cool, how about we open it and see how good it looks? I'm sure the years have done some damage to it." Sango piped excitedly.

Kagome had turned back to the box, "But I thought you didn't believe in the legend."

"I don't, but that doesn't mean that the sword isn't real. Besides, I think we should scare the others."

"Feeling bitter about a certain male?" Kagome mused.

"_Be_ quiet! Let's just open the box okay?"

"Eager are we?" Kagome grinned, lifting the lid slowly off of the box. Though Sango couldn't feel it, there was a heavy aura spilling from the blade. Not quite dark, but not pure either, just a demonic aura. It was all in tact, they gathered that the handle was meant to have torn material wrapping it, the hilt seemed a bit wobbly, and the blade itself was covered by a long, smooth, black scabbard.

"Amazing." Sango whispered in awe, "It's so.. so old.. but there isn't any dust on it or any scratches on the sheathe.

Kagome carefully lifted the weapon out of the case, her face in total awe. She had carefully gripped the handle and squeezed it, pulling out the Tessaiga smoothly to further inspect it.

"Too bad the blade is so scratched up, it looks like it couldn't cut paper, wet." Sango chuckled lightly. "Anyways, Put that thing away, I'll get the chips and you grab the sodas."

Kagome shook herself from her daze and nodded, putting the sword back in the scabbard. She had tossed the box in the cellar and left the Tessaiga leaning against the cellar wall before leaving to rejoin the girls.

They had stayed up half the night just spewing stuff ranging from boys to the bitchiest girls in school. Eventually they had fallen asleep and woken up on a cloudy Saturday morning. They were exhausted and had slept in fairly late until they couldn't sleep any longer. Yuka needed to go do some last minute Halloween shopping for candies and Eri needed to decorate her house for the evening. Ayumi didn't have anything to do really but she didn't fail to mention that there was a party that they absolutely needed to go to that night.

Of course, it was a Halloween party at Hojo's house and anything that had boobs, butts, and legs were allowed to go. Miroku was even attending, which had notably made Sango excited, (though she thoroughly explained that she really liked Halloween and was excited to just dance with hot guys.. not Miroku.. Like that's true..).

Eventually, all the girls had left to do their own thing, but not before they had a huge breakfast that left Kagome with a stack full of dishes to do after they left. 'How convenient for them..' Kagome thought bitterly as she began to scrub the plates. During the whole time she and her friends were in the kitchen, Kagome could easily notice the aura slipping out of the cellar like crazy but had decided to ignore it. She continued to do so until she was finished in the kitchen and had gone up to shower and get herself cleaned up.

There were no phone calls from her friends, no homework to be done, and Kagome had to deal with the aura pouring sword that she still resisted to grab from the cellar. She had glared at the clock on top of the tv, reading three o'clock.

'_It's just a sword.'_ The little voice at the back of her head taunted, _'Just a little old spell.'_ It continued.

'Ya, that could either blow up in my face and not work, or that could end up killing me if I unleash some evil creature.' Kagome mentally reasoned.

'_What could a _half_ demon do to an all powerful _priestess_?'_

"I never said I was a priestess. I have some spiritual powers, that's all." Kagome mumbled out loud.

'_It's just a sword, an old chant.. what could happen?'_

"Nothing will happen because I won't let it." Kagome growled. But as she said this, she was clearly walking to the cellar. Subconsciously, she was dying to try out the spell while gramps wasn't around. But her conscious would never let her do that. She knew it was wrong and she couldn't do it!

…

So then why was she in her washroom, a candle lit, and her lights off? What was troubling her was the fact that she clearly did not remember doing all this, but here she was, prepared to break some five-century-old seal with some pathetic chanting and a vanilla scented candle.

Oh yeah, she was good.

"I can't believe this.." 'But I mean, it couldn't hurt, right? This is just some silly story and I could prove to Sango that it really is as bogus as she says.' She thought, having made her decision. It's not like she was signing away her life or anything. Just, playing with some powerful forces, if they truly did exist anyway..

"Tessaiga, Tessaiga." She began in a whisper, keeping her eye's closed in concentration. "Tessaiga Tessaiga, Tessaiga Tessaiga," She chanted slightly louder. She continued on, raising the sword slowly, her eye's staying closed during the ceremony. Naturally, since she kept her eyes firmly shut, she failed to notice the flashes of amber and red eyes in the mirror. Instead, she continued the breaking-of-the-spell chant while raising the old blade until it reached just above her head and she screamed its name out to the world.

"_Tessaiga_!"

Everything seemed to have happened at once. The pressure in the already tiny room had shifted, the mirror had cracked, and the candle was inexplicably blown out. The washroom was beyond scary in the dark, especially when Kagome could clearly hear someone chuckling in her ears.

With a screech, she briskly made an exit, slamming open the door and running out into the living room with the Tessaiga in tow. The chuckling never ceased though, and it felt like it was circling her in amusement until it had suddenly stopped.

The house was quiet once again, an odd and tense kind of silence she disliked. Not waiting for another moment to pass, she had gone straight to the phone and dialled the first number that came to mind. "S-Sango? … No I'm fine! Really! L-listen, how about we hang out for a bit? You got called into work? … Can I come too? Of course I love children! … Right! Yes, see you then!" She hung up the phone just as the lights began to flicker.

What had she done?

Clearly she had let something out.

And obviously she was being too much of a chicken to face it now when it was daylight out. Imagine how bad it would be when nighttime rolled around? Even if mister poltergeist were to turn off the lights now, at least there was some light from the outdoors that kept her relatively comfortable. 'No, instead I made plans to go help Sango-chan at her pumpkin farm job to baby sit kids. By the time I get back, it's gunna be dark..'

She had turned sharply, thinking she heard footsteps behind herself. There was no one there, though the lights never stopped flickering and in her grasp she still had a firm hold on the cursed sword. Realising this, she had dropped it as if it burned her hands, having sworn she felt it pulse like the blood in her veins. "Eeek!" She gasped and stepped back.

Her conscious, after taking such a long break, had finally kicked back into gear and was sounding the alarm for her to wake up and leave the house. The place was dangerous and she needed to go to safety. 'But I can't just leave and never come back! I also can't leave this for my mom to find! Let alone Gramps!'

"I'm…" Kagome mumbled so quietly, backing up until she fell back onto the couch. "I can't.." She tried to speak again.

She took in a deep breath, and calmed herself. Her once liquid blue eye's turned to stone as she began to lose her temper. It's funny how it really didn't take much to get her angry, but maybe the poltergeist was just having that kind of affect on her. "Oi!" She called out harshly, the lights ceasing their flickering upon hearing her booming tone, "Quit playing around! You.. You stupid ghost thing! Now either I'm hallucinating, or I really did set some sort of thing free! Ei-either way, I'm not scared! And I want you to stop, you jerk!"

The chuckling began again, until a taunting voice surrounded her. A surprisingly deep, velvety, taunting voice, "_I don't take orders from bitchs, I give 'em_."

Kagome gasped, growing furious, "Who are you calling a bitch you jerk!"

"_Heh, you're looking pretty dumb there Kikyo. What's the matter, thought that I would forgive you so soon?_" He growled out.

Originally, she was speechless. But soon, she had regained her bearings and snapped back, "Whom are you calling Kikyo? And what are you talking about you idiot? My name is not Kikyo it's Kagome. Ka-go-me!"

There was silence, for a moment, she thought she had scared him away. That is until she heard him snort, "_If you're not Kikyo then why do you smell_—" Again there was silence, a pause that was very unnerving to her. "_You're not her… You smell… Keh! I hate your scent you stupid human! And Kikyo was definitely cuter, yeah much cuter than you_."

Kagome's face had grown red with fury and she stood from the couch, her fists bawled. "Why you insensitive, annoying, ungrateful pig! I'm not speaking to you! I'm going out!"

"_Oh no you aren't, you try to leave and I'll make mince meat out of you_." Threatened the voice.

By now Kagome was too angry to even consider the threat from the poltergeist, "Oooh, a scary voice is going to try to hurt me." Kagome taunted, walking over to the door. Once her hand was on the knob, a hand with terribly sharp claws had swiped at her body.

…

Passing right through it.

It was the most terrible chill Kagome had ever felt in her life. And when she had turned around, she had almost reconsidered leaving when her eyes had set themselves on a prize. The one who was throwing the insults, annoying her, and scaring the daylights out of her was standing right there. He was a boy clad in red hakamas and haorie, rough hands with claws, barefoot, and the most gorgeous face of all. He looked like a god to her, a sculpture of David. His jaw was set in clear annoyance, his eye's, though slightly frightening, were molten gold surrounded by blood red, his hair longer than even hers, and of course the prize earlier mentioned just sitting at the top of his head.

Dog ears.

_Dog ears_!

Though, he seemed mighty angry that he couldn't touch her, and she didn't even flinch as he tried to claw at her again, she couldn't help but sigh cutely. "Are those.. Can I..?"

The frightening gaze he was giving her had died down, the red fading to white. He had no idea what she was gaping about until he noticed her eyes staring above his face and had growled. "Fuck you!" He barked, dematerializing in a huff.

Kagome's sudden anger had come back ten fold and she had shrilly shouted, "You could have just said no!" Before opening the door and slamming it shut behind herself.

She had arrived at the pumpkin farm forty-five minutes later, still muttering to herself how rude and insensitive her new houseguest was. She had taken the bus to get there and had received various odd looks but had completely ignored them. Upon seeing Sango, her sudden anger had totally vanished and had been replaced with happiness. Though she adored her best friend to death, she really couldn't bring herself to share the event that had happened only and hour before. She wouldn't believe her, Kagome mentally reasoned out, and she didn't know if everyone could see him or not. So in the mean time, it would be kept a secret.

The noises of excited children had snapped her out of her daze and the rest of the afternoon had been spent playing games, eating pumpkin donuts, and going on haystack rides. They even got their faces painted along with the children. One individual had captured Kagome's attention and they had been inseparable since.

His name was Shippou, and he delighted in playing tricks on others. Though oddly enough, he would always hesitate when leaving the barn they were in to go outside. He didn't seem to like the outdoors too much, but his mood had changed as soon as he had befriended Kagome. She had thought of him as the sweetest boy, and loved his little tricks, much to Sango's annoyance. Most of his pranks would be played on the poor woman, but Kagome had smoothed everything out between the two before anything could get serious.

Kagome had eventually begun to notice the sun's decent on the horizon and had to unfortunately leave. The children were beginning to go home to their parents anyways so there wasn't much of a problem.

"We will be seeing each other at the party, won't we?" Sango asked.

"Oh, yes of course! I have a costume and everything."

"Good, me too. I'll see you then." Sango smiled warmly, "Oh wait, I wanted to ask why you sounded so freaked out earlier. Did something happen?"

Kagome had wanted to blurt out to her that yes, something had. But she thought against it, "Nope, I had just spotted a really gross spider and Buyo, being the fat ass he is, had chased after it and eaten it.. It was gross." Kagome wrinkled her nose in disgust. Really, where were these awful lies coming from? Could she be anymore obvious?

"Oh, okay. You're right, that is gross. Anyways, see you soon!" Sango waved goodbye, and walked back into the barn.

Kagome had sighed in relief and sagged a bit before turning around to head towards the bus stop. Again, when she had gotten on and shown her pass, she had received many odd looks. What, a teenager couldn't have a black cat painted on her face now? Jeez, all these people were too uptight..

The sun was just beginning to turn the skies into reddish orange hues, and the first tick-or-treaters were just arriving at the shrine. Kagome had walked up the steps with them, telling them she was the owner and she would give them extra candy for having the courage to actually walk up all these steps.

When she got to the back of the shrine, into her home she had grabbed the pack of candies and ripped it open, pouring the contents into a bowl. She walked over to them and held out the bowl, "Well miss princess and mister pirate, you two can take a hand full of candy from this bowl."

The small children had stared at each other and without a second thought had grabbed big handfuls of candy and left with just as big smiles on their faces. Kagome had closed the door and went to her room to search for her costume. The teen had changed into a purple witches outfit with the hat and all, placing small amounts of violet makeup on her face.

For a few minutes, she had forgotten that she had a new guest and had just changed without closing her room door. When she heard him chuckling a little later while she was pulling out a fold out chair, she had jumped a bit. 'Right, there's a five century old poltergeist in my home.'

"_You know_," His velvety voice began in amusement, "_You should really close your door if you plan on stripping naked, unless of course you like it when people watch you take your clothes off_." His voice rang around her, causing her to turn crimson in embarrassment.

"Y-you pervert!" She had grabbed the bowl of candies and left the house. The shrine grounds were much too large for people to cross to get to her house, so every year, a member of her family would sit a little bit away from the shrine steps with the treats. This way, they could still join in on the festivities. They're also known for hosting haunted houses the weekend before Halloween, something her mother and gramps loved to do every year.

Unfolding her chair, Kagome had sat down and set the bowl next to her. She had also placed a blanket on her legs and sighed. 'Now I wait..'

"What in the hells are you doing you stupid human?" The boy had materialized next to her and stared at the woman.

Kagome had turned her blue orbs to his amber ones, staring daggers into them.

"Don't you know what night it is? You shouldn't be out right now." He said seriously.

She fidgeted and growled, "I don't need some rude ghost telling me I'm stupid, or what night it is. It's Halloween genius, and I'm giving treats to the kids. Besides, as long as I'm dressed up, and all the jack-o-lanterns around me are lit, nothing bad will happen." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"Keh! You're dumber than I took ya for wench! I thought priestesses were supposed to be intelligent, clearly you're no miko." The boy remarked.

Kagome's just fading blush had returned, her face now livid, "Why you insufferable mongrel! I'm going to—"

"Ano.. Maybe we should have just skipped this place Hiro-kun. This Lady is—" A little girl whispered to her friend.

Kagome silenced herself and turned to the kids, "O-oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there. No don't worry, since I have nothing better to do I've been rehearsing for this play at my school…" Seriously, where were the lies coming from? 'Even more important, these guys obviously can't see the ghost, which means only I can. Great..' Kagome thought to herself, giving the children their candies.

The hanyou snorted, "What the hell is a sk-ool play? Some sort of witches spell?"

Kagome sighed and stared at him as if he were hyped up on Scooby snacks, "No, school is a place where we go to learn things. Jeez, you really aren't from here.." Kagome muttered.

"Keh! Screw you!" He was just beginning to dematerialize when she had stopped him.

"Wait! What's your name anyways?" Kagome questioned quickly.

He had blinked and solidified his form, "Why should I tell you?"

Truthfully, if it weren't for the fact that his body was glowing slightly, she would have believed he were alive. But since no one else could see him but her, it was obvious now that he was dead. And a really big jerk…

"Because I want to at least know the name of the fool whose haunting me."

"I ain't any fool you wench! And my name isn't any of your business." He barked.

She turned away from him in a huff, "You're a jerk."

"Keh."

"Well, just a few more hours then I can be set free of you."

"Keh—Wait, what? What did you say wench?"

She growled, "My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me! And I said, I'm going to be set free of you. As in, I'm leaving as soon as the trick-or-treaters stop coming by. I got invited to a party tonight, and I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Who said anything about me not being able to step off these stupid shrine grounds?" He chucked darkly.

She froze, unable to speak. When more children had reached the top of the steps completely out of breath, she had to force a smile before handing them candy. When they left, she had turned to him and glared, hard.

If looks could kill, he would have died over and over again.

"You wouldn't dare…"

"Keh! You're the only one who can see me, so why not?"

She had ignored him the rest of the night.

Eventually, he had dematerialized and left in a huff, his eyes crimson and his face weirdly tattooed with purple stripes. When no more children came, she had gone back to the house. She had freshened up and left for the party, but not before putting out all of the candles around the shrine. She really didn't need the shrine to burn down while her family was away.

She was surprised by the amount of teens that had actually shown up to the place. She had spotted Sango not a moment after entering the booming house, and they had teamed up to find the rest of the girls.

"Look, there's Miroku! No doubt he's flirting with that girl." Kagome pointed out.

Sango growled and glared above the heads until she found him. She had dressed as a red gothic faerie, and a sexy one at that. Kagome had to do everything to keep from laughing as she watched her best friend mull her way through the crowds to reach a very dead Miroku.

"Kagome!" A girl squeaked.

She knew the voice to belong to Ayumi, and had smiled, waving her over. "You look amazing Ayu!" She complimented on her 'sexy nurse' costume, "I would have never guessed you were coming as someone.. so overused."

Ayumi blushed and coughed, "Well it was the only semi decent costume left." She giggled a bit, "But I managed to hook up with someone. He's getting me punch right now." She squealed.

Kagome giggled, "I'm happy for you!" Then she was lost to the crowd, blending in with all the other dancers. It wasn't until a slow song came on that she had realized she was thirsty and went searching for a drink. She hadn't even noticed all the Halloween decorations until now with the fake web and the balloons. She had found the refreshment table and dumped some juice in a cup. She brought it to her lips, then sniffed it cautiously, 'Ugh, of course it's spiked. Who wouldn't spike the punch these days?' She thought, deciding to grab a can of soda instead.

"Excuse me, but a fine lady such as yourself should be out there dancing. Not hanging around the punch table." A voice purred.

Kagome had stiffened and turned, 'He's..'

"My name's Bankotsu, and I was wondering if you'd like to dance?" He questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

Kagome had blushed deeply, "S-sure! I'd love to." She agreed, taking his hand hesitantly as he led her to the dance floor. He was beyond handsome and she couldn't help but sigh at his beauty, though there was one other that was even more gorgeous, but he was nothing more than a jerk. Not to mention she didn't even know his name.

"I'm Kagome by the way." She introduced meekly as they swayed together.

"Well Kagome, I'm glad you accepted my offer. I've been very curious about you, you know.." Earning yet another blush from her, "And I was wondering if you'd like to be my companion for the rest of the night?"

"Seriously? But I'm sure there are plenty of other girls you want to dance with."

"No, they want to dance with me but the feeling is one sided. I only want to be with you tonight." He purred, his dark blue eye's mesmerizing her own bright blue orbs. He had long black tresses of hair pulled back into a long braid, and a marking on his forehead. She had gathered that it was part of his costume, which was some sort of warrior like thing.

Time itself seemed to be slowing down as she stared at him, starry eyed. Though, she had snapped out of her daze when the lights in the room began to flicker slightly, and not due to effect. She had shivered a bit, something that had not gone unnoticed by her partner. He had brought her in closer to him, until their gazes were no longer met and his head sat atop hers.

The song had ended softly, and the booming of loud rock music had resumed. A fuming Sango had separated her from her partner forcefully, the priestess shooting Bankotsu an apologetic look before letting herself be dragged away. They ended up in the nearest washroom, Sango having slammed the door shut to help lessen her anger.

"That.. that…"

"Did you dance together?"

"…Yes, but he made a grab for my butt more times than I can count!" She growled, "That pervert is gunna end up dead very soon.." She spat, bawling her hands into fists.

Kagome burst into giggles, "If you want him to stop, then I suggest you make him listen the hard way." She said intuitively, almost grinning at the dark plan that she was concocting.

"I thought I was already going about it that way," Sango asked in confusion, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"No, you were using brute force. But that isn't working, so we're going to play dirty and make him jealous to stop his hentai ways." She finally did grin and it was beyond a mischievous grin.

"_Women, they never change. Always playing dirty_," Growled an all too familiar voice.

Kagome turned sharply to the bathroom mirror and gasped. 'It's the jerk of a ghost..'

"Kagome-chan? What are you looking at? You're makeup's fine." Sango reassured her, "So let's go now before that hentai asks all the women to bare him children."

Kagome nodded, "Of course Sango-chan." She stuck her tongue out at the mirror and turned away, following Sango out of the washroom.

"_Keh_!"

Again, later on that night Kagome found herself dancing with the boy from before, Bankotsu. And again, the lights flickered. She had also been keeping an eye out on Sango and her progress with Miroku. The plan seemed to be going fairly well since he was shooting glares at the male currently dancing with her best friend.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Kagome blinked out of her daze, turning to find Hojo-kun standing next to her and her dance partner. She half wanted him to leave her alone, but knew that thinking such an awful thought just wasn't very nice. Even if she disliked him, he never did do anything bad to her to make her want to be mean to him.

"You know, I don't mind, do you Kagome?" The black haired man asked.

'Of course you don't, you're just the perfect gentleman…' Kagome mentally blurted, forcing a bright, fake smile to her face. "Not at all, I'll save the whole next dance for you though." Kagome promised, even risking a wink towards him as Hojo continued the dance with her.

_"So you purposely have males fighting over you too? What are you, a whore?"_ Barked a voice much louder than Hojo's, right next to her.

She ignored him and tried her best to tune into Hojo, what was he saying anyways? Something about a project? Ah yes, a math project, oh wait now he's talking about the party... "Oh, it's great Hojo-kun! I hope you don't have too much of a mess to clean in the morning."

"Nothing I can't handle I'm sure." He brushed off.

"_Oh yeah? We'll see about that.._" The lights flickered a little more.

"Stop it," Kagome hissed under her breath to the invisible male.

"Did you say something Higurashi-san?" Hojo asked dumbly.

"N-nope!"

"_Why should I? I'm a ghost, a vengeful spirit! I can do whatever the hell I want!_"

"Not tonight," Kagome growled back, smiling brightly at Hojo as he kept going on about school again. Was this all he could think of was school? He was honestly beginning to bore her to death with his constant chatter about projects and going on about some intellectual extra curricular courses. What her friends saw in him was beyond her.

"_Oh yea? Like I'm gunna listen to a pathetic human wench_!" He hissed just as sparks were beginning to fly out from the speakers. With the combined flickering lights and sparks, it appeared to be seen like an electrical short happening. Except that no one was coming to notice any of this since they were either to into the party or just plain wasted.

What could she do? Honestly, her options weren't really all that great especially with Hojo-kun dancing with her right now. The only thing she could do, and dreaded to do was out of the question. Then again, the only sacrifice would be tonight.. She could deal with it, right?

The dance just ended, and Kagome had laughed lightly with Hojo, waving goodbye before booking it to the washroom. As she did so, she had made sure to stay out of Bankotsu's line of sight while she slipped by everyone until she had the door firmly closed behind her and locked. Crossing her arms and turning over to the mirror she spoke, "We'll make a deal."

The lights in the home had stopped flickering, including those in the washroom. She figured that the sparks had ceased from the speakers as well. So she continued to glare at her reflection in the mirror and waited for him to come.

"Heh like what.._?_" He had materialized right next to her, making her jump slightly.

"We go home now so you don't torture anyone anymore," She spoke steadily, eying him darkly.

"That sounds good to me—"

"_In return_," Kagome cut him off, "I want to know the name of the annoying dog eared boy."

He stared at her in bewilderment. Seriously, this is all she wanted from him? After all the trouble he was causing, she just wanted to know his name? His freaking five-century-old name that his mother had given him when he was born? "Feh, my name is Inuyasha, _wench_."

"Inuyasha? That's a really old name," She admitted, smiling a bit. "Well, let's go then."

She was honestly not kidding about the whole leaving-the-party-in-exchange-for-your-name thing. She had kept her side of the bargain, but not without telling Sango she wasn't feeling well. She even found Bankotsu, and much to the poltergeists disgust, had kissed him on the cheek as an apology for not being able to dance later. And soon enough, the young girl found herself walking home in the dark with a glowing hanyou next to her.

Hojo didn't really live too far away, so Kagome didn't mind the walk. However it was rather chilly, but she ignored it. The moon tonight was almost full which also gave Kagome the creeps, but what made her nearly squeal in fright was the fact that more people had suddenly shown up in the streets. Several actually were just walking what looked like aimlessly in the streets.

She wouldn't have given another thought about them, and would have just continued to walk. Except that everyone of the new comers were, well.

Dead.

They all had a glow surrounding their being and she knew, that much like her poltergeist friend, they were dead.

Why not? It was the night of the dead, and so far no one seemed to notice her. Though her new friend didn't seem at ease. He wouldn't stop growling and glaring around at all the ghosts, silently ushering Kagome to move her puny human legs faster to the shrine grounds. She honestly couldn't see the problem, because it wasn't like they knew she could see them. On top of that none of them could touch her, so she had no problems really.

That is until a very sad looking businessman had shifted his gaze to her, and not just in her general direction. His eyes were actually connected to hers, and in a split second, that's all it took for the rest of the wandering souls to all look at her. She found herself thinking that she wasn't so invisible after all before she heard Inuyasha yell for her to run.

Kagome didn't need to be told twice since they were all coming to her pretty quickly, 'And here I just jinxed myself. Stupid.. I should have never even thought about these stupid spirits! No, I should have never freed Inuyasha is more like it.' Kagome thought to herself as she ran down the street at a speed that would impress even the track team. She knew that it was all pure adrenalin and she could care less if her pathetic witch hat had been now rolling in the streets. What killed her most were these stupid heels! And her pantyhose were totally ripped beyond any form of repair.

From what she could tell, she had arrived on the shrine grounds in record timing and the spirits that were seemingly following her, with great difficulty due to a certain hanyou, weren't able to come onto her property. Well, that wasn't entirely true. They could come onto her property but they're spirits would then just dematerialize. It was weird, like they weren't allowed to come any further.

She didn't really want to stick around to find out why this was happening, so she had just continued her way across the shrine grounds until she passed everything and gotten to the safety of her home. The black haired girl had yanked the door open and slammed it shut, locking it, though it wouldn't due much good against spirits..

"Damn it wench, you sure do know how to get 'em goin'. Those idiot's were a lot harder than I thought to ward off," Cursed a familiar voice from the shadows.

Kagome huffed and switched on the lights, illuminating him, "Stop calling me that!"

"Keh! If I were you, I'd be puttin' salt around your room. Just a word of advice, and a safety precaution," He muttered.

"Salt?" She had thrown off her heels and walked over to the kitchen, switching the lights on and searching through the cupboards for the substance. She had found a box of salt and looked at it then back at the irritated ghost, "What will this do?"

He huffed and walked to her, glaring at her before looking over the box, "Sea salt? Good, you have the best kind. C'mon, turn out all the lights, 'cause we're not coming back down here until the sun rises." With that said, he had dematerialized.

Kagome just blinked, and shaking her head she had moved to turn out the lights and go up to her room. She figured he was there and she was oddly getting used to his presence in her home. As soon as she closed the door she was met by a very irritated hanyou that seemed to have a problem with his foot twitching.

"Took ya long enough you stupid girl! Now starts pourin' the salt before they figure out a way in here!" He barked.

She squeaked, "Wh-what? I thought they couldn't come here! The shrine was stopping them!"

"Ya well, your house is at the back of the shrine and technically not part of it! As soon as they figure that out, they're gunna come crawling in the back way!" He snapped back.

Squeaking again she had begun to pour salt along the edges of her room, past her door, her closet, and around her desk to her window and back along the wall of her bed. When she was done her new roommate seemed a little bit at ease and had sat down. "Did I do it right?"

"Yeah, ya did it right. They aren't able to get in here now, and by dawn they'll be gone again for a year." He grunted.

"Oh, so this keeps them out?" Kagome motioned to the salt and earned a nod. "Well, if you don't mind, do you think you could um, leave?"

He raised a dark brow in question, giving her an are-you-stupid look, "I can't."

"Why not!"

"Because I'm locked in here thanks to the damn salt!"

"Why didn't you say so before? I'll just take some away and you can run along—"

"No way. I'm your plan B in case these guys are actually able to break through the barrier. They seem way too desperate not to try it."

Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose as she sat down onto her soft bed. Obviously ignoring him wouldn't work, so she would have to deal with this sexy ghost. 'Whoa, he isn't… I mean he's hot in a dead looking way, but no way is he sexy. Even with his long silver hair, his adorable dog ears, molten eyes and perfect body. He must have some killer abs and—Okay! Focus! He's a poltergeist, not a piece of meat!'

"I'll turn around if you want to change out of those clothes." He muttered, turning around awkwardly and closing his eyes.

She was fairly surprised and touched by his act, and didn't waste time to change into her PJs. She knew not brushing her teeth before bed was bad, but she could skip a night, and then she had crawled into bed. Inuyasha, she noticed, had relocated to sitting against her bed, his ears twitched a bit and he growled at times.

He could hear them, smell them slightly, and it disturbed him. These spirits were idiots for mulling her all at once. Of course she wouldn't be able to help 'em all at once, 'She's only a human girl.' He thought, 'A pathetic human girl.' His demonic features were once again acting up as his agitation grew. His eyes were changing colours and his markings returning, so he hid himself slightly with his long locks.

"Why were they after me?"

"You could see them."

"So?"

"Ain't it obvious? They haven't been seen by anyone in years wench, of course they'd go after the first human able to see 'em."

"But why me? And I've never been able to see ghosts until.. well, you."

"Just shut up and go to bed."

"But, what if they—"

"There's no one comin' in here any time soon. You've got them locked out and me in here protecting you. So just shut up and lemme do my job." He gently growled, effectively shutting her up for her to sleep.

That was as much as a promise as she could get out of him that night.

Which wasn't entirely bad.

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**A/N So I guess I'm turning this into a mini fic. It probably won't be too long. Like three chapters or four. This in the first chapter, Halloween night. I'll have the second chapter continue the morning after and stuff. So Happy Halloween and R&R!**


	2. November 1st

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the wait. I thought that maybe I'd complete my other stories before posting the next chapter for this.. But then I re-read over the reviews and thought that I'd just try to balance out my ficts and update as soon as I get a chance. So, here we go! Chapter 2!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 2. November 1****st****.**

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Streams of light poured greedily into the small pink room, not disturbing the sleeping figure even the slightest. It wasn't until midday that the woman had stirred from her sleep, and even then it was only because of her noisy tenant. He had been quiet all morning until he had enough of being in the damn room. So he had begun to growl, fidget, then call her, and then of course yell.

"Wench! If you don't wake up right _now_ and get me outta here, I'm gunna make your life a living hell!" He continued to rant as Kagome stuffed her head under her pillow to muffle his voice.

Though, it _was_ a sexy, velvety, deep voice… 'Bad, bad bad bad thoughts about Inuyasha. He's dead. A freaking poltergeist! No thinking of dead people like that!' She thought to herself, finally becoming more alert to her surroundings. She had pushed her pillow away and moved her body into a sitting position, blinking a few times. "Why do I have… Oh right, to stop the ghosts.."

"Yeah, now break the stupid salt prison before I loose my fucking mind, wench!"

"Not so loud.. Jeez." Kagome moved off of her bed and walked to her window, pulling the curtains open. She smiled at the beautiful day, and then stared down at the thick line of salt. In one quick movement, she had wiped away part of it, successfully breaking the circle. It was in that instant that Inuyasha had dematerialized in a swirl of demonic wind and had left her alone in her room.

"I guess he really needed to get away from me. I wonder what he did all night? I don't think ghosts can sleep.." Kagome shrugged to herself and moved away from the window, opening the door of her room and going downstairs. 'I wish it was all just some bad dream. I wish none of it happened..'

Her house was a complete disaster. It looked like someone had robbed them, but at the same time nothing was taken. Chairs were moved, a lamp broken on the floor, broken eggs everywhere with toilet paper, the sinks were all on, but thankfully not plugged up, and the list could go on.

Kagome had realized that she may have been protected, but the rest of the house wasn't. And she had exactly four hours to clean up before anyone started to arrive home. 'Another reason why I wish last night didn't happen.'

-X-

"Well, by the looks of things, you haven't had any wild parties. And I take it you had a nice Halloween?" Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she put her things down in front of the stairs.

"Yup! It was great mom," Kagome chirped. She was extremely proud of her cleaning skills at the moment. She had even put the old box back into storage with all the sutras plastered back on in the same spots. Though she had secretly put the Tessaiga under her bed knowing it would be good to have it on hand.

"Can I play some games mom?" Souta, Kagome's younger brother, pleaded with his big brown eyes, "I did all my homework already!" He added loudly.

Kagome knew her mother would give in to Souta, since she always did. Her mother was too nice for her own good. And so, the woman had and Kagome had proceeded to question her about her trip. Gramps certainly could not drive himself to his friends house, and Souta couldn't go along, nor could he stay at the shrine since Mrs. Higurashi thought it would be too much trouble for Kagome. The shrine grounds were difficult to take care of, especially on Halloween.

"You know, on our way back we noticed a lot of smashed pumpkins and even some damaged homes." Mrs. Higurashi began suddenly, as she carried her things upstairs to her room. Kagome had followed her rather nervously, but kept her mouth shut for her mom to finish. "Such foul behaviour, I must say. There were even some policemen around investigating."

'Good luck with that. I doubt they'd be able to find out what really caused the damages, unless they can speak to the dead.' Kagome thought, 'They couldn't have figured that out, could they? I mean what if there is someone out there that can also see them like I can!'

"They're blaming the damages on rebellious teenagers apparently.. You wouldn't have anything to do with this right? You were at home the whole time weren't you?" Mrs. Higurashi questioned.

"Of course mom. It took me forever to take down some of the decorations last night and handing out the candy was brutal. I didn't leave the house at all since I was so tired." She replied easily, "Anyways, I have some homework to do." Kagome added smoothly, exiting her mother's room before she could say anything else.

'At least I know I'm not in trouble. They think teens did it..' The raven haired girl thought to herself, closing the door of the room quietly. When her blue eyes had lifted, they had connected with an odd object sitting on her bed. She came to realize that the object was her witch hat from last night that had fallen off while she was running. How it got to her room she had no idea. Well, not until a very ill tempered hanyou had materialized into the room.

"Ya know wench, I went to a lot of trouble findin' that stupid thing," He scowled.

"I never asked you to do this, so don't get angry with me," She growled back.

"You ungrateful idiot! See if I do anything nice for you again! Keh!"

"You're insufferable! I'm the one who set you free! You should be thanking me, remember?!" She shot back.

"As if I'd thank someone like you! You're just like Kikyo, and as soon as I let my guard down, you're just gunna seal me away again!"

"Who is Kikyo?! I don't even know who you're talking about! And why would I try to put you back into the stupid sword?! I'm not that much of a bitch!" She shouted back, not even realizing she had actually swore.

Though it did have the desired affect on the hanyou since he had backed off. His ears that were once pinned back in defence were now twitching upwards as he stared at her in bewilderment. A grin a slowly formed on his face, "Heh, I never said you were a bitch, but if ya'd like me to, well I wouldn't mind." He said in a velvety sweet voice.

Kagome had blushed immediately after she had pieced together exactly what he meant, and thought that she would rescue what little pride she had left by muttering, "Thanks for finding my hat."

Inuyasha had dematerialized after that, leaving the girl to her thoughts. She knew what the meaning, the true meaning, of bitch meant. And since he was an inu hanyou, well she wasn't that stupid. He was basically asking her if she wanted him to call her his woman. Now that was something she could not understand why he would bring up. But judging by the look on his face after he said it, well, it looked like he regretted it. By doing this, Kagome couldn't help but feel a little hurt, like he was playing with her. But why would she care?

Kagome Higurashi woke this spirit up just one night ago, so she couldn't possibly be developing feelings for the rude poltergeist. He was a troublemaker and did nothing but fight with her. On the other hand he did protect her from the crazy spirits… "Okay, new topic." She had shaken herself awake from her thinking to finally focus on what was really important. She had done her schoolwork in record time, but she didn't have much to do in the first place.

The rest of her day wasn't really interesting either. She had taken down the rest of the decorations and had cleaned up a bit. Though Sango had called her up to talk about the party. The woman sounded far too excited and of course Kagome knew that it was because of their plan.

_"He was so jealous! He had tried to cut in our dance but got refused."_ Sango squealed, _"And then when another song came on, he was right there to ask me to be his partner."_

"That's awesome Sango-san! Are you guys dating yet? Come on, please tell me he asked you out." Kagome whined, leaning back on her bed and twirling a piece of raven hair in her fingers.

_"He did! He was like—"_

"Kagome! Kagome? Why is the mirror broken in the washroom? Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi yelled up the stairs.

"Sorry Sango but I have to go! Talk to me at school!"

_"You know it, bye!"_

As soon as the phone was off, her mother had entered her room looking not only angry, but furious. Her hands were on her hips as she walked in and she focused all her attention on Kagome. "Why is the mirror broken Kagome? I also can't find my blue floral lamp anywhere."

'Crap, what do I do? I couldn't piece all the broken things together, there were too many pieces! I..' She swallowed hard, "I uh, I'm a real klutz mom. I tripped in the living room and brought the lamp down with me. And I tried to fix the mirror after I sort of knocked it down, but it was so hard—"

"Oh, you didn't cut yourself did you?" Her mother asked in a momentary concerned way.

"I'm fine! I was careful, but I'm also really sorry—"

"I suppose accidents do happen.."

"Yes they do."

Once again, her mother's natural kindness just saved the day for Kagome and she found herself being cared for instead of being grounded. The older woman had first made sure her daughter's hands were alright and she wasn't injured before reminding her that dinner would be served very soon. Naturally Kagome responded with a "Thanks mom," and that was the end of that.

She was really relieved to see the woman leave and close her door since just moments later a figure shimmered to life into her room. She would have screamed, but who else would just pop into her room besides Inuyasha? Except that it wasn't Inuyasha that materialized into her room, but someone else. 'Oh my god, its gunna kill me!' Was her first thought, and then her second thought was '_Inuyasha_!'

"Great, I got sent to a new girl. And here I thought they'd get me somewhere. Instead they sent me in the middle of nowhere!" The woman shouted venomously.

All Kagome could do was back up until she could no longer move due to the wall of her room. She swallowed hard and tried to bite back a shiver. She had nearly passed out when a second figure had materialized but had soon settled down when the familiar glimpse of red was seen.

"The hell is going on here? What is a witch like you doing here?!" Inuyasha barked, standing in between Kagome and the strange woman protectively.

"A half demon? Oh my, I haven't seen one of your kind in centuries. Well mutt, get out of my way. I need that girl to fix my problem!" The woman replied sourly.

"I don't move for anyone. Now tell me who you are and what you want or I'll tear you to pieces," He threatened.

The silver haired woman snorted, "Even if you did, I would just piece myself back together again. Stupid dog, get out of my way!" She shouted back.

"What is it that you want with me? I-I can't possibly be able to help y-you." Kagome stammered.

She huffed, "You really are new at this. My name is Tsubaki, and I was killed last night during a spell."

"I knew I could smell witch craft, your magic is beyond black. It's as far as demonic considering how you look and how old you really are." Inuyasha growled.

"Quiet mutt, the spell wasn't supposed to go out of control. One of the girls got frightened and broke the circle. I was killed the others just have serious injuries. What I want is for her," She pointed to Kagome, "To give me a body so I can return to my husband."

"She can't do that, it's impossible to just give a damn vessel to someone," Inuyasha replied for Kagome. "So leave now."

Tsubaki shrivelled her nose, "Something must be done! I refuse to leave my husband alone! And he isn't allowed to marry some other half-wit girl! He can only be with me!"

"Tsubaki-san, you have to accept your death and let your husband move on. I don't expect him to do it this soon considering you died yesterday, but he will eventually let go, and you need to as well." Kagome cooed gently, trying to ease the tension in her room.

This apparently had an opposite effect considering Tsubaki had screeched loudly in protest and yelled, "No! He is not allowed to forget me! I won't let him! He is mine and mine only, girl. I _will_ be with him again!" With that said, the dead witch had dematerialized from the room in a puff of angry black smoke.

Inuyasha's shoulders had sagged a bit once he knew she was gone and he had slowly turned around, eyeing the girl slightly, "Thank the gods you called me, otherwise you'd probably be dead right about now."

"Called you? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything," Kagome insisted. "You're the one who showed up," She coughed slightly and moved to open her window, letting the fresh air in before sitting back down.

"Yeah, 'cause you called me."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, I clearly recall your voice calling out to me wench."

"I did not—Oh never mind. I've got to talk to you about some more important things. Like, how the heck am I able to see the dead and why are they coming to me?!"

Inuyasha flattened his ears and growled lightly, "Keh, you can see the dead because you're a miko. All miko's can see spirits."

"No, you've got it all wrong. I have spiritual powers, but only enough to do warding spells and things, not see the dead."

"Listen Kagome, your real spiritual powers have been lying dormant in you since you were born. If it weren't for the fact that you set me free from the Tessaiga, you wouldn't be able to see spirits. You woke up your powers and now you gotta use 'em since everybody knows about them."

"And by everybody you mean.."

"The dead. You'll be getting a lot of visits from souls that are having a hard time crossing over to the after life," Inuyasha replied. "Any more questions?"

"So I guess that makes me like a.. a.. mediator or something, right?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, it does. But since you can see the dead, they'll be coming at all hours of the day. We're going to have to set up some wards to keep them out at night so they don't wake you up," The hanyou whined slightly. "Meaning I'm going to be sleeping in here for a long time.."

"Do you actually sleep? Can you sleep?"

"I…. I dose off if anythin'. So no, I don't really sleep." He twitched one of his ears, "Dinners ready, you better go downstairs."

'_Lie_. He's lying.' She thought suddenly. She had slightly shaken her head in bewilderment when the thought had naturally popped up in her head like it did. "O-oh, right." She had mumbled, hurrying off her bed and walking passed the annoyed ghost. With one last glance back at him, she had exited her room to go and have her family dinner.

Later on that night, Kagome had gathered some materials from her family shrine. All the sutras her grandfather painted were actually incorrect, but not by much. They were all just missing a certain character to create a true ward, that and real holy powers to charge them.. Though Kagome didn't want to make a ward that lasted throughout the day and night. She wanted something that only kept out the lost souls during the evening.

The young miko had to do a bit of research on that one and thought that she might have found the solution. She had then created a specific ward using great amounts of her powers (a tremendous amount she never knew she even _had_) and buckets of confidence to keep her going. All of her sutras had then been glued in places her mother would never notice around the house, this way she could guarantee the safety of their home and most importantly her family.

Inuyasha seemed a bit weary of her skills and was unusually fidgety that night when she had finally settled into bed. He was obviously angry about something or at the very least, annoyed. When she had decided that enough was enough she had scowled and said, "What is your problem? You've been tapping your foot against my floor, growling, and moving your ears way too much!"

Said hanyou had snorted and turned away from her, crossing his arms, "Just shut up and go to sleep wench. You need your sleep if you want to keep up with the spirits tomorrow."

"Is it the fact that you're trapped in here with me? Because you know that you can go around the house now that the whole place is sealed," Kagome muttered in a bit of a growl.

"Feh, don't degrade yourself like that, idiot. I don't stay in here because I have to, but because I choose to. And I want to make sure you're always protected, even if your spells do work, it's good to have a back up plan in case of emergencies," He explained casually.

She huffed in annoyance, "Then why are you being so uptight?!"

He glared at the floor, swivelling his ears back as he poked at the floor with his semi transparent claws, "I'm not used to the purifying aura your sutras are giving off. So until I get used to them, I'll be getting small reactions against them."

"Basically.. Anxiety?" She scrunched up her face in wonder, and then it hit her. Her powers were hurting him! "Wait, should I take them down?! Oh my gosh you aren't going to be purified are you? I swear I didn't mean for them to—"

Inuyasha sighed and shot her glares, "Damn it, you silly little girl! Nothing, beyond small forms of anxiety, is gunna happen to me! As long as my youki keeps bonding with your miko powers, I'll be fine. Now get. Some. Sleep." He ordered coolly, turning so that his back leant against her bed.

"How do you even have youki? I thought you were just a poltergeist. How does that work?" Kagome had by then settled back into her bed and was now staring at the ceiling.

Of course he had growled in frustration and turned to her again, his golden eyes agitate beyond belief. "Are you honestly trying to piss me off, or are you just too curious for your own damn good?!"

"Hey! I'm just asking! Remember, I set you free you blockhead! I deserve whatever answers I want from you! And it's not like I ask you difficult questions!" Kagome defended hotly.

'By god, I think she's going to be the death of me… Why can't the damn woman sleep?' Inuyasha had thought, "Just get some sleep baka. 'Cause if you don't shut up soon, I swear I'll fidget _all_ night just to piss you off." He threatened.

She had grudgingly kept her mouth shut and gone to bed like he had said. 'He's hiding something.. Avoiding questions.. but what could he be hiding?' She thought but didn't want to make things any worse for herself. Besides, she knew he was right. She needed a lot of sleep so that she could keep up with whatever was going to be happening tomorrow. She also needed to think of someway to help Tsubaki. Though the woman seemed to carry a foul aura..

The miko knew that tomorrow she'd have to locate Tsubaki's husband. For some reason, she just felt that he was in a bit of danger as long as her jealous spirit was hanging around. With that in mind, Kagome had drifted to sleep under Inuyasha's watchful eyes.

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**A/N Short, but whatever. I had it set in one day. I might just go by days for each chapter. I'm not sure yet.. Then again things would move really slowly.. Whatever! –smiles- R&R!! Please and thank you! I love you guys!**

Special thanks to : kagomesbutterflyfeeling

Yeah, you left one hell of a review for me! It was pretty amazing of ya to do that, so thanks very much! I'm glad you're into my story! Yeah, I spell Inuyasha's sword either way. Tessaiga being the Japanese way or whatever.. And Tetsusaiga being the American way. Either way, I've used both. I just chose to use Tessaiga in this fict 'cause.. I felt like it lol.

Anyways, R&R everyone!


	3. November 2nd

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the long over due update, but now that one fic is done, I'm hoping to keep this one going again. So expect some sort of constant updates. Depending how well I manage my time with school and artwork, I'll try to keep this going so that I post up every other week. Mk?**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 3. November 2nd**

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Oh how she dreaded waking up in the mornings for school. She should have really just shut up and gone to bed when Inuyasha told her to, but no. No she just had to badger him about some much needed answered questions and what nots. She just had to do it. Now here she was, baggy eyed, staring blankly at her buzzing clock. She was half tempted to smack it away and sleep in that much more, but knew that if she broke it her mom would have a fit.

While in her semi awake stupor, she failed to notice that her hanyou roommate was slowly but surely getting even more aggravated by the second. It wasn't until she witnessed her alarm clock flying clear across her room that she realized that she had not turned it off. Unfortunately the poor clock got broken into several pieces and left Inuyasha in a nasty mood.

What a great start to a Monday.

She buried her head into her pillow and groaned, trying to erase the image of the flying clock and the dented wall that she'd have to explain to her mom. Yet another broken item to think up an excuse for. Though her mother was all but familiar with her hatred towards the buzzing thing, maybe she'd let her off the hook for this…

Key word being maybe.

This would be the third item her mother would find broken and she would be bound to begin suspecting something. Hell she'd probably think that Kagome had anger management issues and would try to send her off to some shrink or worse a _help group_. She cringed at the thought of being stuck with a bunch of psychotic slash violent people and one person who would supposedly be able to make them _all_ better again.

No. Hell no.

She would go to a store after school and replace the clock, clean up the mess, and put up a poster where the dent was. But first things first, Inuyasha had hell to pay for making her freak out so early in the god forsaken morning. She knew he could sense the pure anger just pulsing from her body. She knew this because in no time he had ceased his growling, his fidgeting and above all she could _hear_ him inch away from her bed.

Turning her head slowly, in a very creepy manner, she had full out glared at him from her pillow. She really wanted to kill him right now, except that he was already dead, so what did that leave her with? Nothing, absolutely nothing. There was no way she could harm him in any way since he was pretty much nothing but air. So instead, she decided to do what girls seem to be able to do best.

Aim for the head.

Oh yes, some psychological damage would be very satisfying.

"F-feh, why are ya looking at me like that girl," Inuyasha stammered, obviously trying to keep his voice in a threatening tone in an attempt to have the upper hand in this whole ordeal.

Kagome growled at him, noting how his entire body froze up from the sound. She turned her body into an upright sitting position while keeping a deathly eye contact with him, "Under no circumstances are you to ever touch, let alone throw, anything of mine. Ever. Again. Do you understand Inuyasha?"

"Keh! Why should I listen to a hormonal bitch like you?" He tried growling, but found himself unable to, so instead he crossed his arms in an intimidating way. He also tried baring his fangs, except that he could barely move his body since he was too goddamn frightened from her stupid constant death glares.

"Why?" Kagome chuckled darkly, "Because this hormonal bitch will purify your ass into the next oblivion. Or maybe I really should seal you away, hm for what? Another five centuries? Or maybe forever. I could bury your stupid sword in the middle of nowhere, and you'd be all alone forever."

Wow, since when has she ever been this cold? What an even worse way to start a Monday. Hell, she wished she could start the morning all over again so she could stop her alarm clock from flying and begin with a smile on her face. Yeah, too bad that she couldn't do that.

"I knew it! You are a cold bitch after all!"

That had sparked him. He had jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at her, "You're just like her! To think that I almost felt comfortable around you, but it was all a lie to lour me into a false sense of security! You're exactly like her now, a filthy lying whore."

She just kept on glaring at him, ignoring the small twinges in her chest until he had left her room in a puff of angry smoke. She came to understand that the thickness of the smoke would increase whenever a spirit was agitated. Such as Tsubaki yesterday and the inu hanyou moments ago. Shaking her head, she had let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She also felt a strange moisture on her cheeks and rubbed them, realizing that they were tears.

"Oh gods," She muttered, standing up. "This isn't anything worth crying over. C'mon Kagome, pull yourself together. It's time for school and you can't go in looking like crap," She told herself slowly, walking over to her broken clock and picking up all the shards carefully. She was mindful of her hands and placed all of the broken pieces in her trash bin, then proceeded to go to the washroom to have a nice, relaxing shower.

She had arrived at her school bright and early, as per usual, and was greeted by a very cheerful group of girls. These girls were her friends Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi. Sango wouldn't be at school until about two minutes before class. That's how she would always be, just on time for something.

Smiling at her three joyous friends was an easy thing to do since they would always be so caught up in each other, that they'd fail to notice what's really happening around them. That was the ultimate difference between these three girls and Sango, her most trusted friend. Sango would be able to spot Kagome in a sad mood in point zero five seconds. Basically upon catching a single glance at Kagome and vice versa. She could do the same with her, so they had become the closest of friends.

That friendship alone was the reason Kagome was passed a note only minutes into the class session. Sango had written her a note asking what was wrong, and she knew that she'd have to either blurt out the truth or think of something fast. She could always tell the semi truth after all.

"I got pissed at my clock this morning and tossed it at my wall. Between the broken lamp and the cracked mirror, I think my moms either gunna kill me or ship me off to boot camp," Kagome had written in her letter, stealthily passing it back to Sango.

She could hear her friend scribbling quickly a reply and soon enough felt the note get slipped between her fingers.

"You're mom is the nicest woman I know. Don't worry yourself over it. By the way, why didn't you tell me about the broken lamp? And this cracked mirror? What happened?"

Kagome bit her lip before writing her reply, "I pretty much had a clumsy moment Sunday and tripped and broke the lamp. I also somehow managed to crack the stupid mirror while attempting to get cleaned up. The stupid thing fell over the sink and almost gave me a head trauma. Instead it hooked itself around the sink, and with all the weight being held there the damn thing cracked."

"Well, what a terrific weekend you've had. Talk about your bad luck. You poor thing. I'll go with you to buy a new clock, and we can get you a poster, since I know how well you throw when you get angry and all… I bet there's a nice little dent in your wall, huh?"

Kagome drew a chibi sticking its tongue out at her. She really hated how right Sango would be at everything. At the very least though, she would have someone with her. Plus it felt nice to let her thoughts off her chest, even if it wasn't everything, she felt a bit better. 'I still feel horrible about what I said to Inuyasha. Heck he deserved it though! He broke my clock, and said those mean things to me too! He's been nothing but trouble ever since I set him free.' She thought, clenching her teeth angrily.

Too bad the little voice in the back of her head liked to annoy her so much. It told her that he was only mean to her this morning because she had said those things to him first. Secondly, he was an angry and stubborn demon, of course he'd be trouble. Thirdly he had saved her yesterday from a witch ghost, which had to count for something, right?

'I'm going to have to apologise to him… But not until he does it first! He started it, the jerk!' She mentally concluded, ignoring yet again the small voice that chided her childish actions towards this issue.

'Whatever.'

-X-

"Sango-san, why are we here again?" Kagome mumbled half heartedly while trailing behind her best friend in the creepy store. They had long ago gotten the new clock and the sexy poster to cover the dent in her wall, so now they were in a different store. They were currently in the heart of Tokyo, the downtown area that held many small boutiques like any other downtown area would. The difference was that this store had supposedly been here for a very long time.

"Hm? Well Kagome-chan, Miroku told me that he works here part-time and I wanted to check it out. I mean come on, who would want to work at an antique shop of all places?" Sango snorted with laughter, looking over some of the strange objects on the shelves.

"Miroku works here?" Kagome repeated questionably, now calming down somewhat with the knowledge that someone she knew actually worked here. A bookshelf in the distance had caught her interest and she had separated from her friend to go take a look at it.

"Yeah, apparently Miroku is a real historic freak and loves this place. That's why the owner gave him the job here and Miroku practically lived here already." Sango told her friend, raising a questionable brow at one of the sculptures that she found.

"Since when have you been talking to Miroku anyways? How did you know all of this?" Kagome asked.

"A-ah w-well…"

Kagome could just hear her friend blushing while she looked over each book that was on the shelf. She had been so intent on them that she had failed to notice Sango stammer out that she was going to check out the back of the store. Instead she just continued to look with over everything, mentally reading the titles on display. 'Origins of Demons… The Handbook of the Afterlife… Miko's and Necromancer's…'

"Have a particular fascination with the supernatural my dear?"

The voice made her jump suddenly, and she whirled to her side to see a grinning old man standing next to her. Blushing in embarrassment, she nodded her head vigorously and laughed nervously, "W-well see my family owns a shrine… S-so I naturally am a bit curious about this stuff."

The old man nodded knowingly, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips, "Well, I'm sure we could arrange for you to take one of these home, hm? You did look very curious reading the title _Miko's and Necromancer's_." He chuckled, "I'm not surprised that it interests you, in fact I'd say this book was waiting for a young girl like you for quite some time."

Kagome shot him a suspicious look, "Are you trying to use some of your salesman moves on me?" She asked in a muttered, crossing her arms stubbornly across her chest. She earned herself another old chuckle from him, and he shook his head telling her to pull out the book and take a closer look at it herself. When she did, she noticed that there was a lock on it that kept it firmly closed. She looked over at the old man to question him about it, but he was gone. 'Yeah, definitely a creepy place.' She thought, returning her attention to the book.

Running her delicate fingers over the lock, she was somewhat tempted to try and break it. She heard a faint click shortly after touching the lock and pulled her fingers away in small alarm. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the lock had undone itself and hung weakly off the side of the book. 'That's strange, I didn't do anything but touch it. Not even infuse any spiritual powers.'

"Kagome-chan! Are you still looking at those dusty books?"

Kagome almost jumped again, but settled herself down and turned to give her friend a shaky smile. By then she was accompanied by a salesman that looked a bit older than the girls, and all too kind to them. "Who's your friend, Sango-san?"

The boy smiled brightly and stuck out his hand, "Hello, my name is Jakotsu, nice to meet you."

Kagome smiled just as brightly at him, noting some of the similar characteristics as the old man from earlier. "Hi, I'm Kagome," She shook hands with him. "Do you own this shop?"

"Hn?" Jakotsu nodded, "Yep! It belonged to my grandfather's family for a long time until he passed away. Now it's been given to me, though I may not look it, but I just adore all the history this places carries and all of the strange pieces here."

Kagome nodded, and looked back down at the book in her fingers, "Oh, here this is yours. The lock sort of broke when I touched it." She handed Jakotsu the book, "I'm really sorry, I can buy a replacement lock if you want to—"

Jakotsu squealed in alarm, surprising both women extensively with his high pitched voice. He had grabbed the book and looked it over, nodding to himself while checking over everything cautiously, "I can't believe it, you actually opened this?" He repeated in a giddy manner, "My grandfather would be so thrilled to see this!" He hummed.

"…So how much will it cost to repair it..?" Kagome asked.

"…Repair it? Absolutely nothing of course!" Jakotsu giggled, "Actually, if I remember correctly, ji-san's specific instructions concerning this book were to give it to the one who opened it." He shoved it back to Kagome, smiling amiably, "Go on, take it."

She looked at it wearily, but grasped the old book nonetheless. She stared at the leather bound thing, and ran her fingers of the smooth cover. "So how much is it?"

Jakotsu rolled his eyes at her, motioning them to follow him at the desk where the cashier sat. He of course walked behind the counter and pulled out a note pad and a pen, jotting down some notes, "You my dear don't have to pay anything for that book. It's on the house." He ripped the paper and handed her what she assumed was a receipt. "That makes it official, the book belongs to you."

Kagome froze, "Y-you can't just give this to me! I m-mean I would feel terrible for just taking this from here—"

Jakotsu shrugged, "Nonsense, it's yours honey, so take care of it." He picked up a picture frame from beside his cash and turned it to her, "My grandfather wouldn't have it any other way." He added, pointing to the faded picture with a smile.

"Eh?" Kagome looked over the picture of his supposed deceased ji-san only choke on her voice. 'T-that was the old man from b-before! That means… That means…' She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. What could she say? She couldn't just tell him 'by the way your dead grandfather was actually having quite the nice conversation with me five minutes ago.' She would surely get not only yelled at for insulting the old man's memory, but also there's no telling what Sango-san would say about this.

"Kagome-chan? Aren't you going to thank him?" Sango asked slowly, sighing at the frozen girl. She turned away from her and smiled at Jakotsu, "Sorry, she's been acting strangely lately. But she is really thankful for the book."

Jakotsu's face darkened for a moment before he had buoyantly brushed off Sango's thanks and ushered them out of his store. He told them that schoolgirls like them should be working on their homework now, not shopping. He waved goodbye to them, receiving hesitant waves in return. With that done he had returned back to his cash desk and huffed loudly, sitting on a stool and leaning his cheek against his hand.

"That girl is very interesting, too bad she didn't talk much," He eyed the old photograph of his grandfather. "She could have at least acknowledged that you were here."

"I wouldn't worry, she still seemed frightened of her abilities," An old voice replied.

Though Jakotsu couldn't see him, he had no problems hearing the old man and sighed, "Whatever, I'm bored now… I can't wait for that delicious Miroku-kuuun to come for his shift." He giggled, ignoring his grandfather's loud sigh.

-X-

Kagome had returned home later that evening, having gone to Sango's house first to drop her off before going to her home. Her legs were completely exhausted from all the walking she had done and she really couldn't bear to stay outside any longer now that it was dark out. She honestly despised living at the shrine only because of the long set of stairs she had to climb everyday to get back home. Not to mention the shrine grounds always looked creepier at night than during the day.

Trudging across the grounds, she began to think about the recent spirits she had been able to see. First was Inuyasha's, which had triggered this whole ordeal, next was the mob of them on Halloween night, and then it was Tsubaki. The thought of the woman made Kagome's skin crawl, but at the same time she knew that she couldn't just let Tsubaki do as she wished in this world. No doubt she's already been causing trouble at her old home, bothering her husband and throwing objects and such.

'If she is doing that, then why am I just standing around here doing nothing? I should warn him or do something about her spirit.' Kagome thought as she walked up to her house doors, 'But I don't even know where to begin. I'd need Inuyasha's help to figure out how to put her spirit to rest.'

The last argument they had had come to mind, making her blood boil, 'That jerk can apologize first! I am not going to suck up to a freaking poltergeist after he called me a hormonal bitch and whore. I don't want anything to do with someone who has such a dirty mouth.' She thought with a huff, slamming the door open to her house and closing it in the same manner.

"Tadaima," Kagome grumbled out.

"Kagome? Where have you been?" Her mother questioned worriedly, walking out of the kitchen with a towel and dish in her hands. Obviously she had been in mid-cleaning when Kagome had walked in.

"Eh? I was just with Sango-san, Mama. I'll be up in my room now, alright?" She said as she took off her school shoes. She looked up at her mom and forced a small smile, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Her mother shook her head, "No reason dear. Dinner will be ready soon, so you have enough time to change. Alright?"

"Hai," Kagome answered, walking past her mother to get to the stairs. She climbed sluggishly until she reached the top and turned to her bedroom. She sighed in relief once she entered her favourite space, collapsing on her bed while still wearing her backpack. She dropped the other bag she held in her hands and ignored the loud thump it created upon hitting the floor. Her bed just felt so comfortable at that moment that she just wanted to melt into it and remain there forever.

Huffing, she lifted herself up weakly and removed her bag, dropping it on her bed. Then she picked up the other plastic bag she had dropped and removed its contents. First was her poster, second was that book, and thirdly was the new alarm clock she purchased. It was then that her mind had reeled towards the pit that she did not want to think about again, 'Inuyasha..' She stared at her clock, tears forming in her eyes. 'How could he be mean like that? Heck, why did he have to be so violent this morning anyways? It was just a clock, he didn't have to do what he did. Gosh why am I even bothering to think about this again? Why can't I just stop and get over it?'

Tears dripped down her cheeks, a single drop landing on the surface of the clock in her hands. She sniffled, 'Why am I so worked up over this? I'm so stupid, I swear I have to be crazy to even be thinking about a stupid ghost. And even going as far as thinking romantically about him. How could I do that? I've known him for what, three days? These feelings are all so new to me, when I chewed him out this morning, I could feel his pain. It made me hurt too, and even worse when he said those things to me. Why… Why am I feeling this way? What makes him so special?' She rubbed away the wet tears stubbornly, placing the clock down on her night table gently.

"I better change before Mama has a fit about me not coming down for dinner." Kagome mumbled to herself, almost wishing that she hadn't been talking to herself but in fact speaking with her annoying roommate Inuyasha.

Before she had left to go downstairs she had quickly placed the poster she purchased over the large dent in her wall and hid the book she was given under her mattress. Sure it wasn't the best hiding place, but it would do for now. Besides, no one ever bothered to go into her room anyways except her mother on occasions.

Giving her room one last look over, she had left quickly in her pyjama's and slippers to go eat dinner with her family.

Shortly after she had left, a familiar red clad figure had materialized into the girl's room and sat down. He crossed his legs and leaned his back up against the bed frame, shooting fierce glares at the new poster of some shirtless guy. He snorted and glared back at the new clock Kagome had gotten and observed it. "Stupid woman, I don't even know why I'm here… After what she said… Keh!" Inuyasha scowled, crossing his arms. 'She was crying though.. Did I make her cry?' His foot fidgeted nervously, 'Stupid human, crying over such stupid things. F-feh! As far as I'm concerned she deserved to get a yellin' at!' He uncrossed his arms and grabbed his chest, feeling a strange twist. 'Why the hell am I feeling like this? Am I feeling… Guilty?'

He shook his head and looked down intently at the floor, 'No I can't be feeling guilty over this. It was a stupid argument that was her fault to begin with! I shouldn't be feeling any remorse!' A low growl rumbled in his throat, his ears pinning themselves against his skull. 'It was all her fault for getting so pissy at me anyways over a piece of annoying junk. She didn't have to chew me out for putting it out of its misery.' He continued to think, darting his eyes around her room until they landed on the grinning half naked male poster.

He sneered at its mocking smile, as if challenging the male from the poster to fight him, 'Why does she even have something like this in here? Who the hell would want something on their wall that stares at them constantly!' With a small grunt he had abruptly stood and cursed under his breath, "Screw this. I'm not staying in a room with that thing starin' at me."

"You know talking to yourself like that isn't healthy."

He froze and cursed yet again. Had he really been so wrapped up in himself that even with his demonic hearing he hadn't even heard a damn human trudging up some old stairs and coming to her room? Apparently so, because when he turned it was Kagome who was standing in the doorway looking very… Emotionless. She just gave him the blankest look he'd ever seen, even Kikyo's blank stares weren't as cold as this.

"Keh, you're one to talk! You do it all the time," Inuyasha barked back.

She had done something he hadn't expected. She had smiled at him in a laughing way, "I guess you're right about that…" She shook her head and sat down on her bed, "If you're wondering, I'm here because I didn't feel like eating. Not really hungry and all." She looked up at him, "But my mom did say something interesting before I left the table."

That had caught his interest.

"She was complaining about flickering lights all over the house. Even the TV was acting up and it's pretty new." She stood up and looked hard at him, "I know we don't have shorts all over the house, so tell me the truth. Have you had anything to do with this?"

Inuyasha snorted, and challenged her by lowering his face and becoming nose to nose with the woman, "…Are you accusing me of somethin' wench?"

"I'm simply asking a question.." She growled, her eyes glared harder in his, "So answer the question."

"…" Inuyasha tilted back and chuckled darkly, "You think I'm torturin' your family now for kicks? Are you trying to find reasons against me now so that you can seal me away?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, "You know darn well I was angry and I didn't mean what I said!" She screeched, crossing her arms stubbornly. "Besides, you weren't any kinder either, now were you?!"

He grunted a small response, his temper cooling somewhat. "It wasn't me causing the stupid flickerin' alright? It was probably another spirit—" The ears atop his silver main twitched back towards the girls window. His molten gold gaze had shifted to the glass window, a dark look shadowing his face. He cautiously walked over to it and peered outside, a series of growls escaping his lips.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked suddenly worried.

"There's a human male around here… And something about him isn't right…" He scanned the grounds thoroughly with his expert demonic eyes, looking over every detail.

"A-a male?" She squeaked, not daring to take a step towards the window to see for herself.

"Yeah, and he isn't just some normal human either." He growled, spotting the male and glaring hard, "He's got a killers instinct."

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**A/N Whoa, I hope that this is a good chapter for you guys! I also hope that there aren't too many typos and stuff. Well, once again thanks to kagomesbutterflyfeeling for leaving such an extensive review. Really, I loved reading it when I first received it forever ago. Well, R&R guys!**


	4. November 3rd

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thank you so much for your reviews! Well enjoy the chapter!! and another IMPORTANT NOTE!!! For all of you Inuyasha fans that are out there and unaware, Inuyasha is BACK! Yes, the episodes are back now and are being aired in japan. So, you can stream them online if you like with english subs at a website. I can't quite remember the whole name of it but I do know that its 'Voober' something... Anyways the continuation series picks up right where they left off and is called 'Inuyasha Final Act'. I've watched three episodes so far and I believe they are added every Sunday. Great news right? Okay, on with my fict chapter now! **

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 4. November 3rd**

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"Kagome, don't move from your bed. Just lay down and stay."

That was the extent of his warning and she didn't argue. She had made herself comfortable in her bed despite the fact that she was still dressed, and awaited for further instructions. Whoever was out there was definitely making her hanyou ghost friend nervous, nervous enough to have her stay quiet and motionless while he observed the enemy just outside her home. She swallowed loudly and shivered as different thoughts of the different possibilities flashed through her mind.

What if it was a superhuman male thing with some crazy powers? Or maybe someone else like her but more advanced in their control over their spiritual powers? What if it was after her? Or her family? What could she do to stop him? 'Inuyasha…!'

"Listen little girl, I'm right here. So don't be yelling for me to do somethin' when I can't even leave your house since I'm sealed in." His golden eyes briefly flashed over to her then back at her window, "This human won't be coming in here any time soon, it looks like he's only evaluating the place right now. He won't attack until he's certain of every aspect of this place, including every entry and exit way he can take."

"Y-you think… He's going to break in?" Kagome whispered fearfully.

He shot her another look, "Eventually." He turned his eyes back to the window just as quickly, his ears still twitching constantly, "Try to relax woman, I'll watch over this place and make sure your family stays safe."

She let out a small breath of relief, at least this guy wouldn't be coming in yet and she had Inuyasha there to protect her family too. Wait, what exactly could a ghost do to protect them? And why won't he tell her a damn thing when it comes to the weird stuff that keeps happening?

Her temper began to rise, "Hey wait just one minute Inuyasha! Just what is going on around here? Why won't you give me explanations about these ghost things and humans with stupid 'killers instinct'? Why do you insist on keeping me in the dark about all of this?!" She yelled. "If I'm ever going to be able to defend myself and help people I'm going to need to know what I'm up against—"

He turned sharply to her, "Don't even say that you stupid little girl! Under no circumstances are you to _help people_! You'll end up dead a lot faster that way, so just worry about keeping yourself safe while I—"

"While you what? Protect me? News flash! You're _dead_, and you can't do anything to protect me, hell you can't even touch me!"

Her voice was deafening to him, and he desperately wanted to force her to be quiet so that he could focus on the task at hand. Ignoring the ranting girl, he faced the window again to look out to the intruder, except that he was gone. Closing his eyes he focused his thoughts on the human that was just outside this home moments ago. His ears cautiously tuned out the woman while he listened for any other suspicious noises around the house and property.

'Seems like he's gone, for now.' He thought, jerking back to reality upon the realization that Kagome was practically nose-to-nose with him. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised or frightened considering the defiant glint he spotted in her eyes. Now that he thought about it, she was really picking him apart with her words about him not being able to protect her. Ha! She was a human for cripes sake, and just barely a priestess. He was better than nothing, and who said anything about him not being able to do shit?

"Back off girl."

She just continued to stand her ground and glare hard at him, "No, you tell me right now everything that is going on because clearly you know a lot more about this stuff than I do."

He rolled his eyes, grinning sexily at her, "What makes you think I'm gunna tell you anythin', wench?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat, fighting back a blush that just wanted to taint her cheeks. He was just so handsome, and so close up to her. His golden eyes brimming with amusement in spite of the serious mood she was trying to set. 'Bad bad Kagome! Inuyasha is _not_ handsome! He's a ghost! A stupid, temperamental ghost!' She thought. "I-Inuyasha, I told you not to call me that! My name is Kagome. Ka-Go-Me," She seethed out.

Snorting at her, he backed off and moved to her bed to sit down, "Keh, just sit down woman before I change my mind." He had decided to give in since she clearly wasn't going to budge off the subject.

She visibly brightened and made herself comfortable next to him. She couldn't believe he was actually going to clue her in on things now, something that excited her. "Okay, talk to me Inuyasha."

"Look, I'm not gunna tell you everythin' now, alright? You aren't ready to hear all that I know, so just be happy that I'm sayin' some stuff right now." He gave her the best serious look he could muster up and then crossed his legs and leaned back against the wall of her room. He knew she was giving him a pout look, but ignored it. He stuffed his arms in his sleeves, "Where do you want me to start?" He grunted, looking up at her with his usual sparkling amber eyes.

Kagome blinked at him, was he being serious? Come to think of it, this could take a while... She hoped that no one would barge in anytime soon 'cause she wouldn't be able to explain why she would be seen talking to herself. "Um, maybe way back to Halloween. How did some chanting set you free like this? It was hardly a freedom spell if you ask me."

He closed his eyes and chuckled, "You're right about that. I think that the chant you were told to say was truly correct except that it was missing some key words. I don't know the whole spell myself, but I do know that the woman who sealed me would not have done it without making sure I wouldn't get out."

"So you think part of the spell was purposely erased from the family history?"

"Knowing her, yeah."

She observed him and noted how his voice seemed to crack at the mention of this supposed woman, Kikyo perhaps? She must have meant a lot to him at one point in his life… Wincing she placed a hand on her chest feeling a form of twinge in her heart. Was she feeling pity for him, or was she feeling hurt that he had feelings for someone else? "How did you... get to be sealed away?"

He flinched, but relaxed just as quickly, "I.. F-feh, I'm not talkin' about that yet, wench."

In response to his cold attitude she had stuck out her tongue at him, blushing when he opened his eyes to look at her. 'Oh great, he probably thinks I'm such a kid now.'

It was as if a switch had been turned on, and his personality had taken a change. Now he was grinning at her sexily again and eying her, "You know, if you stick your tongue out like that again, I'll just have to find some good use for it."

She squeaked in alarm, her cheeks really turning crimson, "Y-you pervert!"

He shrugged and closed his eyes again, "Keh, sticks and stones girl," He chuckled.

She mumbled a cursed under her breath and looked away from him, "Back on topic," She coughed loudly, "Erm, what's the deal with this salt thing? Why does it keep ghosts away?"

The hanyou twitched one of his ears, "Salt is known for being a pure source. Because of its purity it's able to ward off things like ghosts and depending which type of salt you have, powerful demons as well."

"So the sea salt…?"

"Yeah, it's the strongest type out there. Unfortunately it was hard to come by in my era, so we could only depend on normal cooking salt. Rock salt also works wonders, but out of all of 'em, sea salt can keep anythin' evil out of homes and when used properly it can fight off spirits."

Kagome thought for a moment, "Hey, do you think we could visit Tsubaki's home tomorrow?"

"…No."

She growled at him, "Inuyasha, she could be causing all kinds of trouble by now. I can make wards for her husband and protect him while we try to find a way to kill her—"

"No!" He shouted suddenly, "I won't let you purposely put yourself in harms way. It's reckless, and she could attack you at any given moment. Besides, you can't kill her as easily as you can with other ghosts."

"So there is a way."

"Damn it girl. Just listen to me! Don't do anything stupid and try to be a hero. You can't fight off ghosts and demons by yourself. You just aren't hero material. You'll be killed."

She was touched by his concern for her safety; he really did seem to care about her, "Inuyasha, I wouldn't worry. I'm a big girl, besides who said anything about me doing this by myself when I have you to protect me, right?" She smiled at him, removing herself from her bed to grab a towel. She was so going to take a bath and relax before starting on homework, speaking of which… She was going to have a hard time completing it tonight since she zoned out in all of her classes.

'Inuyasha is knocking away my concentration,' She thought. 'He's such a troublemaker I don't even know why I'm bothering to think about him. He's… so… Argh, he's a ghost Kagome. A _spirit_! You cannot have the hots for something that isn't touchable.'

He sputtered at her, "W-where do you think you're going?"

"Taking a bath. I swear if you follow me in the washroom those pretty dog ears of yours will be missing. Forever." She threatened in a cheery voice, causing her hanyou friend to stiffen up considerably. "I'll be back in a bit," With that said, she had left him in her room to contemplate what to do next.

Was it wise to go looking for trouble like this? He didn't want Kagome to have a life like this, and especially did not want her to turn into one of _them_. She was just a girl, she would be having a normal life if it wasn't for him being sealed in the stupid sword to begin with. Slowly but surely he knew that she was on the path to becoming one of the few human's with 'killers instinct'. But he didn't want that for her, he wanted her to have a better life.

'Damn it woman, I'm just trying to protect you.' Inuyasha thought worriedly, sprawling himself on her bed comfortably. He huffed loudly, "Women."

-X-

"This is the place, looks like you're average house if you ask me," Kagome said to her partner, continuing her inspection of the large home.

She had decided to skip school today so she could get to the home where Tsubaki once resided in. She figured that her husband would still be home as well since her death was only a few days ago. Still, the concept of some all powerful witch living in your average Joe dream home was still something difficult for her to grasp. This neighbour hood she and Inuyasha were in looked like it was littered with families and children with their dogs and cats. Were they sure this was the place?

"Yeah, this is it. I can smell her, she's been here a lot and her aura is all over the place. Damn witches and their stench…" He covered his nose with one of his large haorie sleeves, "Well, what're you waiting for? Go knock on the damn door." His clawed hand motioned for her walk up to the door.

She had done so and delicately knocked on the white door, waiting a moment for anything to happen. When nothing did, she had knocked again, but a little louder. Now she was really beginning to get impatient with this man. She had taken three buses to get here only to find that he was too lazy to answer his freaken door? Come on, everyone knows he's home because his car is in the driveway!

The sound of locks turning and a doorknob twisting caught her attention. The door had slowly squeaked open a crack, half of a face peering out to look at Kagome, "Yes?"

Kagome laughed nervously at the chilly voice the man had, "A-ah, hello there. My name is Kagome Higurashi, m-my family owns the Sunset shrine, have you heard of it?"

He sighed, "You're a priestess then?" He opened the door fully, allowing Kagome to really get a look of him.

He was handsome, she'd give him that. If he were attending her school he'd probably have his own little group of schoolgirls following him everywhere. He was young looking, dark eyes and jet black hair that was somewhat long enough to point out in every direction. Judging by his built, he was probably fairly strong and athletic as well.

No wonder Tsubaki didn't want to let him go.

He was a sexy beast.

"Y-yes, I'm a priestess. I… I heard about what happened to your wife, I came here to give you my condolences sir," Kagome bowed.

"Higurashi-san, thank you but that's not necessary," He reassured her. "Please, call me Hideo, I sound too old when you call me sir."

"Hideo-san," Kagome repeated with a small smile. "I also came to ask you some questions, if you don't mind?"

Inuyasha growled, and she knew that it meant something was wrong. Even with her small attempts to discretely calm him, she couldn't stop the feeling of chills from running up her back. Something was here, something dark. She had a sneaky suspicion it had to do with a certain witch.

"Questions? What sort of questions?" He asked in confusion, not having noticed the change in aura surrounding them.

"Well erm… Mostly about recent things since the um... Passing of your wife." Kagome replied, waving her hands frantically in the air when he gave her a strange look. "Listen I know this may sound strange but please just give me five minutes of your time to answer these questions."

"I'm sorry, but I have no interest in these questions. Please leave."

He was about to close the door on her until she placed a hand on it to stop the thing, "Wait! You have to understand, you could be in danger! She may try to kill you if you aren't careful!"

He struggled against the door and growled. "You're crazy! Just get off my property before I call the police!"

Inuyasha continued to growl. "Kagome, she's getting pissed at you. We need to get outta here before she tries anything," He flexed his claws in preparation.

Kagome kept the door open long enough to give the man a serious look before it got closed on her face. She huffed, "Fine, let's go." She turned away and walked passed Inuyasha, the constant chills that ran up her spine never ceasing. They hadn't gone away until she reached her second bus home and much to her annoyance Inuyasha had been sticking to her like glue during her entire trip, including the bus rides. It was somewhat awkward, especially since he was sitting next to her and then someone would try to sit in the 'empty' seat only to suddenly feel cold and not want to sit there anymore.

Inuyasha was not amused at all with the constant invasion of his space, but he put up with it. He'd rather have humans bug him than be back at that creepy perfect house, though he knew it wasn't the end of it. Knowing Kagome, she was planning something right now, "Out with it. I know your thinking about that guy, and his stupid ghost wife."

Kagome wasted no time in taking out her cell phone and placing it against her ear, "Listen Inuyasha, we—"

"Why are you doing that? What is that thing?" He tilted his head to the side to get a better view of the strange object she held against her ear. Cautiously, he had moved his face closer so that he could sniff the thing, however she had waved him off with a growl.

"Stop that. If you want me to talk with you then it will have to be like this. I explain what it is when we get home, okay?"

He stared at her and nodded, "Yeah wench, you better. Because all of this tek-no-la-gee is really frustrating to deal with." He complained, crossing his arms into his sleeves, "So, what're we gunna do about Hideo? Have any bright ideas?"

Kagome chewed on her bottom lip nervously, "I-I do have an idea… But Inuyasha I've never done anything like this before. We could get into some serious trouble." She stared through the window of the bus and observed the outside world rush past her vision, "I'm thinking we go back tonight prepared, and take her on."

Inuyasha snorted a chuckle, "Are you serious? Do you really think you can get rid of her spirit so easily?" He laughed again, "If you happen to not notice, the woman is a witch. You can't kill her ghost as easily as you can with normal spirits. Haven't you been paying any attention to what I've been sayin'? She's too powerful, and she could really hurt you."

The schoolgirl had clutched her cell phone tightly, "I don't care, I don't want anything bad to happen to him. And who knows what kind of other trouble she's been causing for others. We can't just leave her to wander like this."

Fidgeting slightly, he had muttered some words under his breath. He had sat up and turned his head away from her sight, his silver locks draping across his shoulder like a curtain, "Look, if you're serious about this… Then you have to know that we only have two options to kill this bitch and move on."

"I'm all ears," Kagome replied easily.

"Good, so listen up little girl, 'cause this won't be easy."

-X-

She lit the final candle hurriedly, and blew out the match before she could burn her fingers. She looked over the items she had managed to gather, and then looked around her surroundings nervously. How she had managed to sneak out of her house in the dead of the night was beyond her. On top of that, she had chosen to come to a very creepy cemetery with a ghost, no a damn good looking ghost, to perform a spell.

Oh yes, you read correctly. A spell.

_"The first way to kill her would be to perform an exorcism using candles, blood, a photograph and an authentic bible."_

She really didn't like the whole idea of performing an exorcism, especially since it involved blood. She never really told anyone, but she didn't really like to see blood. As in, she would feel queasy each time she sees even the tiniest drop. The up side was that she wouldn't pass out from the sight of it; just feel kinda sick is all.

An exorcism was out of the question. Plus she had no photograph of the deceased and how the hell was she going to find an authentic bible?

_"The other method of killing her spirit is by using a binding spell. You would have to bind her powers back temporarily so that she becomes a normal human long enough for you to salt and burn her remains."_

That's why they were at the cemetery.

She had found out that Tsubaki had been buried just yesterday, so she had been able to uncover the earth from the casket quite easily. It had been a good work out, but she knew that she would be feeling all kinds of pain in the morning. It also didn't help that Inuyasha had been watching her the entire time, which was unnerving. It had felt as if he were examining her or something, but she didn't say anything.

So the casket had been uncovered, opened, body salted and coated in fuel and now she stood above it on the ground with the candles set in a triangular formation. She had them all lit and surrounding a small bowl in the centre that held herbs for her to burn.

"Does this all look right to you? Because it certainly doesn't look right to me," Kagome mumbled, looking over to her protector for some reassurance.

Inuyasha merely nodded to her and smirked. "You got it right wench, now hurry up and perform the spell before she realises what we're up to," He stood next to her and crouched down. "Don't worry about everything, I'm here to stop any spirits that may want to pick a fight with us."

Kagome froze up. "Well then, isn't that reassuring," She said sarcastically, turning her attention back to her burning candles and small piece of paper she held between her fingers. "Here goes nothing."

She had begun to recite the spell Inuyasha had given her.

The hanyou's back had stiffened once she had begun, knowing that tonight would be a long night. It didn't help that her untamed spiritual powers were increasing the strength of the spell and causing spiritual winds to occur all around them. This in turn caused his demonic aura to pulse in small irritation. He was still not very used to her extreme amounts of power, which unfortunately would cause his demonic features to mutate into the frightening face of a monster.

As she continued the spell he could feel the stinging of the purple stripes that formed on his cheeks. His fangs were most definitely lengthening as well as his claws. Inuyasha had stood up and turned away from her, not being able to bear to look at her as he was right now. Instead of wallowing in his own misery he had perked up at the thought of protecting her as opposed to hating his demonic blood.

So far so good, no Tsubaki had shown up.

It was strange though; you'd think that she'd sense that her body and power was being bound. So why wasn't she here to defend herself from it all?

"You spineless, half breed, piece of trash!" Screeched an all too familiar voice.

Ah, so there she was.

As expected, Kagome had stopped her spell to look back at Inuyasha worriedly. When he had shouted for her to continue, she hadn't argued and had fearfully continued the spell. In the background she could hear her hanyou struggling against the woman, fighting her back to protect her from harms way.

"… I call upon you to bind the gift in which you have blessed the High Priestess Tsubaki. Hear me, spirits of the world beyond; I call upon you now to bind this gift. Now thrice recited shall mote it be, mote it be, mote it be!" Kagome finished with a shout. By then the winds had increased so much that the page she had been holding had blown out of her tight grasp. She had hastily taken out her matches and lit the mess of herbs in the centre of the triangle, wincing when she could hear the screams of protest from the woman behind her. She had dropped her book of matches on the ground next to one of the burning candles in fright.

Her strangled screams overpowered Inuyasha's shouts for her to burn the corpse. Kagome just couldn't snap herself back to reality, and had risked a glance back to witness the horrified woman. It had been a frightening scene, besides Inuyasha looking terribly demonic, there was Tsubaki who was being held down by these white beings with no faces. The shock from the sight made her stone stiff until the screams had finally ceased when the white beings were overpowered.

Inuyasha had said that she could only be held down for a short period of time, but damn. On top of that little discovery, Tsubaki, in her very pissed off stupor, had managed to disappear and reappear in front of Kagome. The malice practically pulsed from her spiritual body and all Kagome could do was sit there and watch wide-eyed as the woman reached through the schoolgirls chest and grasp something.

Kagome wheezed and whimpered. 'M-my heart!' Her body pulsed against Tsubaki in protest.

"Kagome!"

'Inuyasha…'

Tsubaki laughed cruelly, wrenching the heart again, "You stupid little girl! Did you honestly think you could bind me? I've been a witch for _centuries_, do you hear me?! Now I'm going to kill you for interfering with my business!"

"Let her go!" She could hear Inuyasha shout, her vision beginning to blur.

_"…Now thrice recited shall mote it be, mote it be, mote it be." _

She could hear the words again, but they weren't in her mind. Someone had actually recited them again. Was Inuyasha doing this?

Her blue eyes descended to her chest, noting that the hand had been removed and that the woman was now screaming again and surrounded by the faceless beings. She could hear her heart beating weakly in her chest while Inuyasha shouted for her to wake up. She could see him now, his silver hair, his red-blue eyes and strange marking on his cheeks. He was looking down at her, yelling something.

What was he saying?

Her mind just couldn't register what was going on, she—

"Burn the body you idiot!"

She blinked her eyes rapidly.

"Can you hear me?! Kagome! Kagome snap out of it!"

'Tsubaki, is he talking about her?' Kagome thought, turning her head to the side. The dug out grave was just there, waiting for her to light it. "M-my matches.." She weakly rolled her body onto her side, gasping at the pain in her chest, 'Gods it hurts…'

"Kagome!"

She groped around the moist dirt for her fallen matchbook, grasping the object firmly when she found it next to a candle. Faintly, she had taken the rest of the matches from the book and lit them. They made a loud noise before orange flames engulfed the cardboard, cueing her into tossing them into the pit with the corpse. Just as the whole of the body had caught fire, Kagome's chest pain had lifted and she had been able to sit up in time to see Tsubaki's spirit burst into flames with a scream.

"Ungn…" Kagome breathed.

Inuyasha was by her side in seconds, checking over her for injuries and such. "Are you alright Kagome?"

She nodded to him, "Yes, I'm fine. Th—thanks for saying the spell again, I owe you one."

He curled away from her in confusion, "I'm a spirit Kagome, I can't do any spells as a spirit, only a living being can."

She froze, "Say what?"

-X-

Two figures in a distance had turned away at that time, leaving the miko and her spirit friend alone in the graveyard next to the burning corpse. One of them grinned and let go of the page he had been holding, allowing the wind to sweep it up into the air and carry it away.

The other figure chuckled, "I told you she was trouble. Now what do you think would have happened if we hadn't been here?"

"… No comment." He replied.

The partner sighed dramatically, "Fine fine, don't admit that your partner was right." He crossed his arms in mock anger until they reached their car, a slick black '67 Chevy Impala. "You can drop me off at my place, I'll meet you tomorrow at the shop, alright?"

"Tomorrow at five," He said, opening the drivers door and slipping in.

"Hm, alright five it is," The flamboyant one agreed, sitting next to his partner. They both tossed their shotguns in the back seats and buckled themselves in. "A word of caution, she's bound to get strong and her little friend will get royally pissed if you keep getting closer to her. Just be careful, will you?"

"You know me Jak'." He shot him a smirk, turning on his car with a flick of his key, the engine roaring to life.

The boy rolled his eyes, "That's what I'm afraid of."

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**A/N So I'm a bit late, but at least it's up now! Some midterms were happening and I still have quite the amount of stuff to do! For example I need to construct a 3D self-portrait of my head using cardboard. That sounds like fun, right? Haha, at least this is break week now! Hopefully I'll get to type a lot during this week and post up another chapter before Halloween. Until then, R&R!!**


	5. November 4th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the long awaited update. It's here now!!! So I hope you guys enjoy it! And thank you for all your wonderful reviews!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 5. November 4th**

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_'Alright Kagome, it's okay, you can do this.' She focused on the task at hand, subconsciously chewing her lip while her pencil glided over the page on the desk. 'I know this stuff, I know it.' She mentally cooed, her face brightening considerably. 'Yeah, look at this! This is so easy, I might actually ace this test!!'_

"Oi wench, snap out of it."

_Was that Inuyasha's voice or was she imagining things?_

"You stupid girl, if you don't wake up and write somethin, you're gunna fail this test thing."

_Yes, that was definitely him. But what was he talking about? Clearly she was awa_—Oh no. Now she was staring at his scowling face. He was there in her class and she was… Looking down at her page she realised she had been daydreaming. She didn't know anything on this test because she hadn't prepared herself for it. No, instead she had gone and spent her night burning some witches corpse and nearly getting killed by her ghost.

Now she was paying for it through her grades. Her mother will definitely have a fit when she finds out about this.

"You know, I could always be the nice poltergeist and look over some kids shoulder to see his answers," Inuyasha tempted, having already tilted over to peek at her neighbour's answers.

Kagome had shot him some fierce glares, which in someone else's perspective would seem strange since she looked to be glaring at nothing but air. Since Inuyasha could only be seen by her at the moment, she knew that everything she did with him would make her look like she was a psychotic, teenage girl. 'I can't cheat! I won't! It's not—'

"This guy got the answer by writing this weird thing down first. X equals—"

'…I am so going to hell for this…' Kagome thought guiltily, writing down Inuyasha's precise instructions. She was just beginning to understand everything when the teacher had stopped them to take back the test. It was the end of class now and Kagome's chest felt even heavier after copying down those answers. Sighing, she stood up and gathered her things.

"You think you failed too?"

Kagome glanced lazily at Sango, her face clearly showing displeasure at the mention of the test, "No doubt."

Inuyasha snorted, "Yeah right, you got most of those answers down, didn't ya? You probably passed, idiot." He shoved his hands in either of his sleeves and eyed Sango, "Who's this girl anyways? Why is she always around you?"

Obviously she didn't answer him, "Come on Sango-chan, let's hurry before we're late for next period."

Sango nodded, "Don't worry so much, if we fail, at least we fail together." She tried to smile.

Kagome grunted in response and they had walked out of class together towards their lockers. The halls were filled with hordes of students, each rushing to get to their class. She could hear Inuyasha dully complaining about the constant bodies of students passing through him until he had skilfully manoeuvred himself behind Kagome. She had rolled her eyes at his antics and hid a small smile upon hearing his low curses towards the student body.

She shivered lightly, the close proximity of his spirit to her back causing her neck to tingle pleasantly. She swore she even felt his breath on her neck for a moment, but brushed it off as her imagination. 'Cool it Kagome.. You do not have any form of feelings for him. Nope, he's a ghost. Sure he's undeniably handsome and rugged… and sexy..' She shook her head, '_But_ there would be huge relationship issues with going out with a ghost! It just wouldn't work out between the two of us!'

"Uh Kagome-chan?" Sango's voice had snapped her out of her thoughts, causing her to blush.

"Hn?" Her blue eyes blinked up at her friend nervously. Apparently she had been standing still for the past oh… two minutes? That's right, just standing in the centre of the hall, in her own little world.

"What's with that look on your face?" Sango asked suddenly once they arrived at her locker, "You only get that look when you're daydreaming about a guy." She teased.

Kagome squeaked, despising Sango's magical abilities to read her so easily. To make things even worse, Inuyasha had begun to growl behind her. If anything, it had to do with Sango's mention of the opposite sex.

"The hell is she talking about? What guy?" Inuyasha seethed, withdrawing his hands from his sleeves to crack his knuckles.

"W-well—" Kagome nervously glanced between the two of them, watching as Inuyasha shifted so that he was towering over her. She bit her lip and smiled nervously at Inuyasha, shaking her head to get him to back off silently.

"Tell me," He growled.

His eyes had never left hers, and if she didn't know any better she'd say that the look on his face was jealousy.

"Kagome-chan?"

That was Sango's voice, calling to her.

She had turned her eyes away from his to look at Sango timidly, "A-ah, time to go."

Just when she thought that things couldn't get any worse, Miroku had shown up out of nowhere to greet and grope Sango before class. As usual he had been slapped for his wandering hands and then preceded to go with them to their next period. However instead of Miroku solely placing his focus on Sango today, he had been shooting Kagome looks. From what she could tell, they weren't anything like the looks he'd give Sango. These were different, almost worrisome in some way. She even could have sworn she saw him stare at Inuyasha.

'No way, only people with spiritual powers and stuff can see him, right?' Kagome thought, looking over her shoulder to peek at Inuyasha. She noticed that he kept his eyes glued to the back of Miroku's head, soft growls rumbling in his throat. 'Something strange is going on.. I better try to do something.' An idea had come to mind, then she began her performance, "Oooh, aaaoow…" Kagome groaned, clutching her stomach weakly. She had stopped walking and crouched a bit in false pain, whimpering a little before righting her posture.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango was at her friend's side, holding her shoulder and asking her what was wrong in that instant. "Do you want me to bring you to the nurses office?"

Kagome shook her head, "N-no it's okay.. It's just my stomach.. You know cramps and all.."

Miroku coughed, pretending to ignore what Kagome had just said. Men. They just can't handle knowing that a woman has her period. The perfect plan.

Meanwhile, the hanyou ghost had no idea of the hints Kagome had made about the "issue" she was having, so instead of ignoring her like Miroku, he was all over her. It was difficult to tune in to both Inuyasha and Sango but she had managed to. By the time she had waved Sango off, the bell had rung for the classes to start and she had ushered them away, telling them that she was just going to head home sick.

"Oi! Woman, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you okay?"

Kagome's eye twitched slightly, her annoyance for the overbearing ghost beginning to show. "Inuyasha," She hissed when she was sure there was no one in the vicinity. "We are leaving now!"

He gaped at her when she had marched passed him, then narrowed his eyes in anger, "Wait, you faked a stomach pain?!" He practically barked, pointing an accusing finger at her, "Hey, don't walk away from me wench!"

She had stop suddenly, turning her figure ever so slowly to give Inuyasha a hard look. Her usual warm blue eyes were as cold as crystal and bore holes into Inuyasha, causing him to freeze up in fright. "Let's go." Just as she turned to leave, she had bumped into someone. She had heard soft mumbles of an apology and had turned to look at the boy. She had just barely been able to catch of glimpse of him, a handsome older student with dark eyes filled with sadness. 'What's up with him? Why did he look so depressed?' She shook her head and made her way to her locker.

She had gotten what she needed and had left the school grounds swiftly, unaware of the eyes that watched her walk away until she was out of sight.

-X-

Sighing loudly she had spared a glance at her nervous hanyou ghost who was currently sitting on the floor with his back against her bed. She had rolled her eyes and shifted her body so that she had her head buried in her pillow. She had no choice but to stay in her room, in bed, feigning a lousy stomachache since her mother was home as well as gramps.

"This is your fault you know," Kagome mumbled against her pillow.

One of his ears twitched towards her, "Why the hell is it my fault?"

"Because if it weren't for your stupidity at school concerning Miroku, I would be enjoying history right now," Kagome replied.

He waited a moment before speaking again, "You mean that monk? Feh, he's the one who started it… Trying to plaster one of his stupid sutras on me… Damn fucker can burn in hell…"

Kagome turned herself around and sat up in her bed, "He what? What did you call him?"

Inuyasha looked up at her with an are-you-a-baka look, "That guy who's the biggest pervert alive? You, a woman who lives in a shrine, who has spiritual powers, did not sense that the hentai was a monk?" He questioned slowly, as if to be sure he understood her properly. The blank look that crossed her face was enough to convince him, "Gods you have got to be the most hopeless priestess I know." He mumbled under his breath.

That hadn't escaped Kagome's ears one bit, so she glared at him, hard, "Hey, what did you just say..?! You—Wait, did you say that Miroku tried to put a sutra on you? How did I not see this happen?"

Inuyasha snorted, "Probably because you weren't paying any attention, as usual. He's way too sneaky to trust, and he nearly caught me too... If it weren't for my demon heritage I wouldn't have felt the powers coming at me before it was too late." He looked up at her, "He knows of me, and probably of all the spiritual beings out there."

"So all that growling you were doing… Was because you didn't like him?"

He stood up and got into her face, "It was my sign to you to show that I didn't trust him! That male nearly purified my spiritual ass wench! I don't trust him one bit, so I don't want you to get near him, got that?"

Aware of how close they were, she fought back the burning blush, "Now you listen Inuyasha, I can be with whomever I want whenever I want! I don't take orders from anyone! Miroku-san and Sango-chan are my friends and I can be with them if I want!"

Taken back slightly by her outburst he had come to notice how her eyes glittered with determination and how much they reminded him of someone else. "All I do is to protect you, you silly girl. Don't you get that?" In that moment he had brushed one of his clawed hands against her cheek. Surprised that he was actually touching her, he had withdrawn his hand quickly and stared at it. Still glowing, however more solid than transparent. Looking up at Kagome, his heart had leapt in his chest at the shocked look that was still plastered on her face. 'Shit,' He had mentally cursed, choosing that moment to shimmer out of her room and away from her.

Kagome, still stunned, had placed a hand against her cheek in disbelief, still feeling the tingles that were left form Inuyasha's soft touch. Had that actually happened? Had they actually touched? Her insides were just twisting in joy and a lone mischievous thought had come to mind, 'If that happened, then maybe I can kiss him… Oh oh! Bad! Bad thoughts!' Kagome mentally slapped herself for even thinking it. Groaning about this new predicament, she had collapsed back onto her bed and stared up at her ceiling.

Tsubaki had been able to touch her, and grab her heart, so she supposed it was natural that Inuyasha was able to touch her as well. Except that he couldn't before now, so how is it that he did it? 'Maybe he's just grasping his powers as a poltergeist right now. He can cause things to shake and explode… So his powers must be developing in a way.'

Her thoughts had trailed back to when they had first met after she had unsealed the sword. He had scared the hell out of her and had tried to kill her. If it weren't for the fact that he was still so new at being all spiritual and stuff, he probably would have succeeded in killing her. 'But he didn't… And even though he can touch me now… He won't. I know he won't. He said so himself, he just wants to protect me.'

Even so…

She had removed herself from her bed and lifted her mattress slightly, removing an old book from under it. It was the same book she had gotten from the antique shop for free, the one with the broken lock. 'Maybe there's something in here about poltergeists…' She thought, sitting comfortably back in her bed before opening the cover of the book. Leafing through the first few pages she had come to the first chapter.

_Priestess's and Their Powers to Tame_

She had skimmed through most of the chapter until she reached the end. The whole thing had talked about ancient lines of miko's and monks and their abilities to purify and tame demons and spirits. The last page of the chapter spoke of a necklace made to subdue a troublesome ghost. To her, it sounded more like training a ghost than subduing it.

"… The beads of subjugation can be conjured only by one with powerful abilities and can be set in motion with a single word. A command." Kagome mumbled, "To use said beads, simply chant the incantation and they will be sent to the one of your thoughts." She finished with a snort. 'As if something a ludicrous as this could actually work.' She thought, looking over the words briefly. Despite her disbelief in the 'chant' she had decided to commit it to memory before closing up the book.

This whole supernatural business was beginning to give her a headache, so she had put the book back under her mattress before deciding to take a nap. Yes, a nice nap would make her feel better after all of this. Cuddling into her bed she had placed the alarm on her clock and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

-X-

Inuyasha had soundlessly shimmered back into Kagome's room a few hours later, surprised to see her actually sleeping as opposed to doing schoolwork or something productive. Walking up to her bed he had gently sat down on her mattress, his weight not affecting it one bit due to the fact that he was dead. Staring down at her cheek, he felt his own fingers burn in remembrance of the warmth her cheek had provided against him. He hadn't touched anyone in five hundred years…

It had felt so nice…

Well of course it had been a huge shock to his system before he realized how good it had felt. He even craved to touch her again, but tried his best to crush the feeling. He didn't want to frighten her, and he didn't want to do anything he'd regret. 'She looks so peaceful. Too bad she's the biggest bitch I know,' The end of his mouth twitched into a smirk. Watching her again he was reminded of the woman he had come to love before he met Kagome.

"…Kikyo.." He had whispered gently, extending his hand to her and praying that he could touch her like he had earlier. Swallowing soundlessly, he had softly brushed his claws through the girl's inky black locks, brushing stray strands away from her face. He had been right in thinking that her hair looked as soft as it felt. 'You aren't her… I think though that you're someone… that I…'

Before he could stop himself, his face began to lower. His silver main draped across his shoulders, blocking out the rest of the world as he dipped his head down to plant a soft kiss on the girl's temple. He had mentally congratulated himself for restraining himself from kissing her on her lips like his inner instincts roared for him to do. Like he thought before, the last thing he needed was for her to wake up and to freak out at him. She couldn't possibly understand the strain his body was constantly taking in order to prevent himself from just jumping her. Ever since he could touch her, his demon instincts have been howling at him.

Even now…

His demonic jagged stripes were forming along his cheeks. He knew they were, he could feel them burn as they placed themselves.

_Drrrriiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnng_

A sudden, annoyingly loud ring had come out of nowhere.

Shooting his head up quickly he had turned to the object sitting on Kagome's night table and snarled.

That damned alarm clock…

It was really starting to piss him off…

He didn't even try to stop himself from tossing the damn thing out of the window with his supernatural abilities. The clock had even gone further due to the increase in his youki. Twitching one of his ears, he had caught the soft moans of the woman beneath him. Standing, he had stepped away from her and waited, despite the constant howls in his mind to stay near her.

"Shit..." Inuyasha clutched his head, aware that his eyes were shifting colours.

"Mmm… Inuyasha?" Kagome mumbled, stretching partly in her bed before sitting up sleepily. Opening her eyes, she had rubbed the sleep out of them and turned to her night table. Anger had begun to over take her senses in that instant, so when she had turned to give him yet again a piece of her mind she had been shocked into keeping her mouth shut. "Inuyasha?!"

Grunting in acknowledgement was all that she had received from him.

His eyes, his face… "What's wrong? Why are you like that? I-I don't understand—" She had squeaked when he had moved to sit next to her in a blink of an eye. It had been so fast, she hadn't even seen him move, he had just appeared sitting next to her with that frightening face, those large fangs… "Inu-Inuyasha?" She had voiced, carefully extending her hand to touch his face.

"…Don't.."

His voice had come out so deep, like a growl of desperation.

Kagome hesitated, pulling her hand back for one moment to look at him. "You're having a hard time aren't you? I might be able to help—"

"…Stay back…" He tried to shift away from her.

"You idiot, would you stop being so stubborn?! I can help."

"K-Kagome…"

That had been the first time he had ever said her name. That had been convincing enough for her to recite the spell she had read earlier.

"I release the binds from this book to protect another heart from itself. Accept this blessing and allow it to heal your broken soul so mote this be it is my will. So mote it be." Kagome had recited from her mind, the space between her mattress and her box spring beginning to glow unexplicably bright.

Inuyasha had backed off her bed quickly to look at her in a strange fear. His senses were becoming overwhelmed by scents of purity and magic, the powerful light almost blinding his demonic eyes. He was obligated to close them at one point just as small dots of light were shooting out from Kagome's bed and heading towards him.

In moments the light had died down, and Kagome had opened her eyes to look at Inuyasha. His eyes had opened too, however he still carried the same demonic features as before and—wait, he was wearing a necklace. 'That's the necklace I saw in the book. It looks just like the picture!'

Inuyasha had stared down at his chest, looking over the beads in question, "What is this? … What are these?!"

Kagome cringed, "I uh.. Well…" 'Think of a command Kagome! Anything!' "Y-you see… I…" She stumbled over her words, trying to form a reasonable explanation for him, but could think of nothing. It progressively got worse when he began to move towards her with a strange glint in his eyes. She really didn't like the look and sought out to look at something different, friendlier even.

Like those adorable dog ears--

"_Osuwari_!" The word had just blurted out from her lips so suddenly. All she had wanted him to do was stay back, stop even. But no… Instead she had sent the poor guy plummeting to the floor. "Oh no…" She had covered her mouth with her hands and scrambled out of bed, "Inu-Inuyashaaaa!" She had of course tripped over her sheets and fallen next to him, struggling to sit up as he did. "Are-Are you okay?!"

Lifting his face rather difficultly from the floor, he had glared at her hard with his golden orbs, "What the hell did you do that for!? What the fuck are these things around my neck?!" He barked, sitting up and struggling to pull the beads away from his neck. They only glowed in protest against him, not budging from their position.

"Ah… Before I tell you what I did, mind telling me what you were doing?!" Kagome had growled, changing the subject quickly. "And why you were like that!? Honestly, you should be thanking me for helping you!"

He stopped his struggles and looked at her, "I ain't saying anything to you until you tell me what these are and how in gods name you learned to do this!"

"Well I guess you'll never know then since you aren't telling me anything either!" Kagome challenged.

"What?! You are going to tell me woman! I have a right to know what you did to me!"

"Oh yeah?! Well I also have a right to be pissed at you for yet again destroying my alarm clock! Do you now how much those things cost?! You are so insufferable sometimes!"

"Yeah well being around you aint a walk in the park! I have to take out my frustration somehow!"

"Is that so?!"

"Damn well it is!"

"Sit boy!"

"Aaaaaack!"

'You blockhead, why are you so difficult?' Kagome thought, shaking her head at his behaviour. Standing up she had decided that a hot bath was well deserved right now. So she had left for the washroom with a towel and pyjamas in hand, not looking back.

Kagome had sunk into the tub sometime later and felt her senses tingle when the thought of Inuyasha rose. Frowning she had submerged herself deeper into the water, lifting a hand to then touch the temple that he had earlier kissed without her knowledge. 'He's hiding something from me, I can feel it… Like before when I swore I felt him lying about something… It's like we're connected in some weird way…'

'This is getting weird.'

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**A/N I hope this was a good chapter for you guys! Not much spooky in this chapter, but there will be in the next one! This one was teetering more on the romantic comedy side with a hint of supernatural. But next chapter will defs be filled with mystery and probs have more Miroku-san and hints of Bankotsu-kun. Well R&R!!**


	6. November 5th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!!**

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Awakened Dead  
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**November 5th**

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Kagome had returned the next day at school feeling much better and very aware. Inuyasha was of course still with her every step of the way, stating that he was just there to protect her from the monk and his wandering hands. Though she knew better and thought that maybe it still had something to do with the whole boy thing Sango had brought up yesterday at school. 'He probably thinks he'll catch the guy I have a 'crush' on and will try to beat him up or something.' Kagome thought with mild amusement.

Upon entering the school, she had found that the place was unusually quiet and had decided to search around for her friend to find out why the air felt so depressing. Even Inuyasha could feel it and had been growling ever since they entered the school. She had felt him grab her wrist and give her a small squeeze before looking down the hallway.

"There's somethin' in the school… No there's more than one thing happening here…" He growled.

"W-what do you mean?" Kagome asked in a hushed voice.

"Something—"

"Kagome-chan!!"

Said girl had jumped slightly, and felt Inuyasha pull away from her to place his hands back in his sleeves. She had given a small smile when she saw Sango rushing through the halls to meet up with her and greeted her. "Ohayo Sango-chan."

Sango had shaken her head, "I wish… Today is not a good morning. School is being canceled because of the body found earlier this morning."

Kagome gasped, "B-body?" Beside her she felt Inuyasha tense up.

"Hai, a student had apparently committed suicide sometime last night and the body was found this morning by a student. The poor girl is still talking with the police about it." Sango's gaze had dropped for a moment before she looked up at her friend again, "That isn't even the strangest part about it though."

"What do you mean?" Both she and Inuyasha had said at the same time, of course Sango only heard Kagome's voice.

"I heard a rumor about the boy who died… They say that his face is stained with black tears of grief. What do you suppose could have caused that?" Sango asked worriedly, hugging herself.

Beside her, Inuyasha had grunted, "I've got an idea."

Kagome looked to him and tilted her head. In a way she wanted him to go and check things out, however in another she didn't feel safe without him near her. Especially at a time like this.

"Don't worry Kagome, I'm not leaving you." He answered for her, giving her a small smirk of reassurance.

"Kagome-chan? What are you looking at?" Sango asked gently, touching her friend's shoulder.

Kagome had snapped out of it and given her best smile, "Nothing Sango-chan. How about we leave together?"

"Ah, sure but I'm still waiting for—" Her eye had twitched, and her mood had changed from sullen to downright pissed off. Kagome had backed off while she had the chance, however the male had no hope. In mid-grope, Sango had clenched her fist and hit the hentai over the head. "Miroku!" She yelled, deciding that hitting him wasn't enough, she had also slapped him and throttled him for a bit before dropping him on the floor, burning flames still surrounded her body and burning in her eyes.

Miroku had chuckled nervously, a dreamy smile still tugging at his lips while his hands twitched. "My dearest… How I've longed for today to happen…" He chuckled again.

"Damn pervert, even I wouldn't do that if it meant getting beaten to a pulp each time." Inuyasha muttered, eyeing the monk wearily.

Kagome had nodded in agreement, and even made the mistake of answering him, "Yeah he never seems to learn does he?"

Inuyasha had snorted, "I think he's taken one too many hits to the head… But since he is here…"

Miroku had stood up and rubbed his lump on his head, looking first at Inuyasha before looking at Kagome, "Ah, I see that I made a mistake then yesterday with you."

Sango had looked between her best friend and her male friend in confusion, "What are you guys talking about? What mistake?"

"Ah.." Kagome looked up at Inuyasha.

"Look monk, we'll deal with things later. Not that I trust you, but since Sango here can beat the shit out of you just for touching her, then I'm sure it'd be that much worse if you did anything to harm Kagome." He took his hands out from his sleeves and cracked his knuckles warningly, "So can I ask that you stay with the girls while I go check on this body?"

Miroku had thought for a moment before nodding, "I mean um… I thought that the body was er someone we knew, but it wasn't. I went and looked myself, but I'm sure if someone with some ahem better senses were to look, there may be something that I missed while I was there."

"You're not making any sense Miroku-san." Sango mumbled, "Why were you looking at Kagome and—"

"Oh he just happened to zone out a little I'm sure. Plus, you did give him a beating, Sango-chan." Kagome laughed nervously, silently ushering Inuyasha away. Once he had dematerialized Kagome had smiled and grabbed her friends arm, "How about we leave now!"

"Ah, maybe we should go shopping?" Miroku suggested with a wiggle of his brow.

Sango had smiled all too sweetly at him, "As long as you're paying…"

Miroku held in a groan, "Fine, but may I suggest—"

"No lingerie shopping," The girls said in unison, earning a whimper from the boy.

"You're all so cruel to me."

-X-

Later on that day, Kagome had been dropped off at her shrine with several bags of new clothing, courtesy of Miroku. When she had finished putting her clothes away, Inuyasha had reappeared just as the doorbell had been rung. Looking up at him she had felt him pull her to him and embrace her gently.

"Listen to me, one of them is here, we need to get you out of here before he comes up."

"One of whom--?" Kagome asked in confusion, but instead was ignored as Inuyasha darted his head around to look for a way out. "Inuyasha—"

He had dragged her to her window and opened it telekinetically, "Get on the roof, and sit there until I tell you to come back in."

"B-but—"

"Don't argue with me wench! Just do it!" He barked, pleased to see that she was actually climbing out of the window now. He had just barely enough time to close the damn thing when the visitor had come in. Giving him a dirty look, he had cracked his knuckles and snarled at him.

Outside, Kagome shivered from the cold weather and grabbed her arms to help warm herself up. She wasn't quite sure what was happening or why Inuyasha was acting the way he was, but she knew one thing… It had felt nice to be hugged by him. Her cheeks turned pink at the thought, but she shrugged it off as the cold getting to her and her brain. Looking out, she noticed that despite the sun being out, she couldn't feel any warmth from it, and shivered more. 'I'm going to turn into a Popsicle.' She thought sourly.

While she kept her gaze ahead, she noticed that someone was coming up the shrine steps. At first it was slowly, but then he had started to run and make his way to her house. 'Miroku-san?' She thought, feeling the need to call out to him but held back her voice. She opted to smile instead since he had caught her gaze, but he didn't return the smile. Instead he just ran faster until she heard the doorbell ring again and he entered her house.

Next thing she knew, she was seeing a black shadow burst out of her window and disperse. She had squeaked in alarm and stared at the spot where it had disappeared for some time before her window had been opened and she had been greeted by Inuyasha's concerned face. He had held out his hand for her and she had gripped it and climbed back inside her bedroom, still keeping a firm hold on his hand as she steadied herself.

"Um, what was that about? What was that thing?" She found that Miroku was in her room as well and holding onto a person that was dressed in their school uniform. "Who's he?"

Miroku had put the guy down and peeled off the sutra that was on his back, tucking the paper back into his pocket, "This is someone from our school."

"I gathered that, but what was with the whole hiding me thing and why is someone I don't know here?"

Inuyasha had squeezed her hand, "That kid was being possessed by another poltergeist. He was here to kill you since you have strong spiritual powers. It sensed that you were a threat and decided to take you out."

Kagome gasped, "Does this have anything to do with the suicide? And those 'black tears'?"

Miroku nodded, "Those black tears were ectoplasm. Only the nastiest of spirits can create ectoplasm. This one in particular seems to like taking students as its host and killing them."

"Any thoughts as to the connection between the victims?" Inuyasha asked.

"None that I know of besides the fact that their seniors and males," Miroku replied.

Kagome looked between the two, "Since when have you guys been buddy buddy?"

Miroku smiled apologetically, "Since I found out that you could see ghosts and that you were friends. I do apologize for yesterday, I thought you were a spirit trying to attack Kagome." He looked at Kagome, "I never knew you were aware of your spiritual powers, so I took upon myself to try and rid you of your ghost friend."

"The names Inuyasha, _monk_." Inuyasha tugged Kagome to his chest and wrapped his free arm around her waist, "And she's mine, ya hear?" Those were his male youkai instincts talking, something that he couldn't believe he just said.

"A-ah, of course." Miroku replied.

Kagome on the other hand had blushed and looked away from them, 'Oh boy, did he just say I was his? As in… he's placing claims on me or something?' She thought. "A-about the poltergeist.."

Inuyasha had blinked, "Oh yeah, you weren't the only one who investigated the body either, monk. I caught the scent of ones with _killers instinct_ there too. Looks like everyone is after this thing."

"You mean there are still hunters in this day and age? I had no idea." Miroku crossed his arms in thought, "I was always under the impression that the lines had died off hundreds of years ago."

"By my count, there's two line still alive." Inuyasha grunted, holding Kagome even more tightly, "One of them active while the other one is still slumbering. Your friend, Sango, is part of the Taijiya clan, isn't she?"

Miroku nodded, "Yes, her full name is Taijiya Matsui Sango, but she mostly refers to herself as Matsui Sango."

Inuyasha snorted, "That woman reeks of 'hunter' blood as you put it. But it isn't awake, her instincts are still slumbering. However the other clan, one that I don't know much about, is awake and they've been around here keeping an eye on this place while taking care of other supernatural problems."

"So these guys with _killers instinct_, they're humans?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, now commonly known as hunters, they have super human strength and an incredible tolerance for pain. Their bodies are strictly made to fight spirits and demons, so they aren't easy to kill." Miroku answered, "I had no idea that Sango carried the gene. Well, then again I always thought that the hunters were all killed off." He gave a soft, nervous chuckle and looked away.

Kagome nodded, "Alright, so we have these guys watching us, on top of which we have another ghost that wants to kill me and probably you now, Miroku-san. This means we're going to have to find out who it is and burns its remains."

Miroku shivered, "I was never one to enjoy this sort of thing. Generally I would purify the soul with one of my sutras… But seeing as this spirit is particularly dark, I see we have no choice."

"How about we go to the library and look through some records Miroku-san? We might be able to find some clues as to why this ghost is even here, and who it may be. While we do that, Inuyasha can go look through the student records at school and find out more about who died today." Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, a tinge of blush staining her cheeks, "Do you think you can do that? The records would be in the office either in a cabinet or on the computer."

The inu hanyou had subconsciously begun to rub circles with his thumb against Kagome's hip, grunting when she gave his hand a small squeeze in return. 'Why does this feel so good? I've never felt like this before.. I'm having a difficult time focusing on everyone.' He thought. "I'll figure somethin' out. I'm sure I can find something useful," He said, finally looking into her eyes. 'Gods, her scent is driving me crazy… If I don't leave…'

Tentatively, he had unwound himself from the girl and gave her a small grin, "I'll go look now. You guys go do your thing. I'll come find you later, or you can call me back if there's trouble. Alright wench?" He looked between the two and received nods, though he could have sworn he saw a hint of disappointment in the girl's eyes. Maybe she actually liked being held by him? All the more reason for him to hurry his ass up then he supposed…

He had dematerialized with a shimmer, leaving Kagome, Miroku, and the slumbering student in silence for a moment before Miroku had spoken, "Well, shall we leave?"

"What about him," Kagome pointed to the unconscious boy.

"We'll take him out to the shrine," Miroku responded, hoisting the boy up and half dragging him out of Kagome's room. They had made up a lie saying that he had been drinking away his grief from the suicide this morning and has passed out in Kagome's room. Though Kagome's mother seemed skeptical, she had waved them off and told them to be safe and return soon.

Once they got to the library, Kagome had settled herself at a computer strictly to look at old newspaper clippings while Miroku looked over on the Internet. As time went by, Kagome found herself falling asleep, so had asked Miroku if he could get them some coffee. Once he was gone, she had continued through the clippings until she had finally stumbled upon something of interest.

"…_Student Hachu Shiba died of a drug overdose in the boys washroom…"_

" …_November 4__th__ 1999…"_

"… _Leaves 43 year old father in grief…"_

"…_Will be missed…"_

Kagome gaped at the screen, a photo of the deceased appearing on the screen. He was fairly handsome in a nerdy kind of way. He looked like the type of guy she would befriend, but never date. Looking at the location, she found that he had died in her school, in the boys' washroom on the second floor. 'Oh my god…' She practically jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but remembered that she had sent Miroku out for coffee. Turning, the smile she had had been dropped and instead replaced with a horrified look.

There stood another boy, whom she didn't recognize but wore the same uniform from her school. What frightened her most was the black ectoplasm leaking from his nose, and the dark grin that was on his face.

"Sh-Shiba," Kagome stuttered. 'I'm in trouble!! Someone! Anyone! Oh my god…'

The boy had chuckled, "Now then, why don't I kill you now, miko—"

Before he could lift a finger to hurt her, a fist had flown towards him and smashed the boy in the face. He was then tossed into a bookcase, several novels falling on his head causing him to fall flat on his ass while her savior had tugged Kagome out of the chair. Looking up, her eyes had shone with recognition and she had spoken, "Bankotsu-san?"

Said man had smirked and winked at her handsomely, "Hey there, Kagome-san. Thought you could use a hand. He seemed to be bothering you and all." He had shot nervous looks back at the boy before looking at her again, "So, should we get out of here then before this guy gets up again?"

She was about to answer when Miroku had returned with coffee cups in both hands and a somewhat quizzical look on his face. Instead of introducing them, she had just taken her coffee and explained that she was just leaving, and had dragged the monk out roughly. When they had reached a safe distance Kagome had let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding and had looked at Miroku, "You came just in time."

Miroku had chuckled, "Were you being asked out by him?"

Rolling her eyes Kagome had shot him a look, "Did you not notice the boy on the floor?"

"Ah, so he was defending your honour then?"

Kagome had growled, "It was the ghost! He was g-going to attack me… Until Bankotsu-san had showed up and taken him out."

"Oh, how convenient of him…" Miroku had frowned, but then shrugged unconcerned. "A stroke of luck I guess."

"I guess," Kagome mumbled, not at all convinced.

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**A/N MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I hope you guys like this chapter! I know it wasn't long, but at least a new one is up! R&R please!**


	7. November 6th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thank you for the reviews guys! I really appreciate it! And this message goes specifically out to: **

**_darkened angel_: I do have other stories, just look on my profile and you'll see them. I don't know what you're into, but I've got a variety of different stuff so yeah… But I wouldn't recommend my first story just because I wrote it like when I was in grade nine, back when I put a lot of comedy and weird shit in my stories. Plus I never really edited it, so there's probably a ton of mistakes, haha. Anyways, yeah check 'em out. If you like pirates, I've got my pirate fict. There's also one about Inuyasha as a dog turned human thing, and one when he was abused as a kid… All kinds. Oh and one-shots. Anyways, I encourage you to take a look! :)**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 7. November 6th**

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Shortly after the mild catastrophe at the library, Miroku and Kagome found themselves at the monk's home, speaking in his room. By the time Inuyasha had found them he was already in a bad mood which had quickly worsened when he discovered where exactly they were. It must be some stupid Inu youkai thing, being in foreign male territory and all. Knowing him, he probably found some 'supernatural' way to mark her entire home, including all of the shrine grounds, as _his_ territory to ward off any other male demons. 'There couldn't possibly be any other demons here besides Inuyasha though, right?' Kagome suddenly thought, not sure if she was quite ready to want to hear the answer to her mental question.

"You were attacked by the spirit?" Inuyasha suddenly barked, shaking Kagome out of her thoughts. She hadn't really been paying any attention to the boys and supposed that they probably got onto the main topic already. "And where were _you_ monk?" The question had been growled out to the nervous houshi.

"Ah well you see my friend…" Miroku began, a wide smile tugging at his lips, "We were getting tired, so I kindly went to get coffee—"

"Why the hell would you do that? She could have been killed!" He snarled at him.

Kagome's head snapped back and forth between the two of them nervously, "In-Inuyasha, calm down! Nothing happened!"

He turned sharply to her with a scowl, "No, but something easily could have."

"Sure, if it weren't for Bankotsu—" Again, Miroku had been interrupted.

"Bankotsu?" Inuyasha repeated the name carefully, eying Kagome before remembering why he knew the name. If at all possible, his temper had grown and he had grabbed Kagome roughly by her shoulder and shaken her, "You mean that dick you were flirting with at that all hallows eve celebration!?"

Kagome had narrowed her eyes, "These days it's called a _party_. But yes, that's him."

Miroku cleared his throat noisily, "Inuyasha-san, please calm down. It's not like he flirted with her _that_ much." He merely grinned to himself when Kagome shot him a fierce glare, glad that he was at least sitting a safe distance away from her on his computer chair.

"Is that true? He tried to woo you, didn't he?!" Inuyasha growled at Kagome, unaware that the houshi was taking immense amusement in this display of emotions. "That bastard! Trying to take what's mine… You better not be thinking of seeing him again wench!" He began to feel gradually more aggravated and somewhat wanted to hunt down the male to give him a piece of his mind. Or rip him to pieces… Whichever came to mind first when he spotted him.

Kagome had separated herself from Inuyasha by standing up from Miroku's bed and placing her hands on her hips, "Sounds to me like you're trying to tell me who I'm allowed and not allowed to see, Inuyasha." She seethed mildly, "Well let me tell you! I'm not a piece of meat you know, nor am I some object!" She yelled, her blue eyes turning icy with rage.

"That man isn't to be trusted! There's no way he could have showed up coincidentally like that to hit that kid! I don't like it, or him. So stay away." Inuyasha argued with her, trying his best to keep his demon nature from interfering with their argument. The last thing he wanted was to have his youkai instincts completely kick in to try and mark her in any way to keep other males from touching her intimately.

"Again, you're telling me what to do!" Kagome's cheeks burned red with anger, and finally she decided that she couldn't take this anymore. "You are such a jerk!"

Snorting, the hanyou had turned to Miroku, "I'm not being unreasonable, but if anything, if you were there in the first place to protect her monk, none of this would have happened!" He bellowed, ready to pounce on the houshi suddenly.

Miroku had swallowed loudly, wondering when the argument had shifted from between the two to him so quickly, "Ah-uh, Inu-Inuyasha-san, y-you don't mean to—" He held his hands up as a form of surrender.

"Drop the _–san_ crap! I know what you're getting at! Either way I'm going to beat the shit outta you for leaving Kagome like that!" He was about to punch the monk when he heard a string of that dreaded word slip under Kagome's breath.

Gods this was going to be painful.

He had plummeted harshly into the wooden flooring several times due to the beads around his neck. He vaguely could hear Miroku questioning her about the beads around his neck and where they had come from. Determined to get his word input too, Inuyasha had forced his body up to look at Kagome and growl. "I'd like to know that too!"

"These beads of subjugation… There aren't any of these left in these times. No one has the purity of a miko or a monk like the ones from centuries ago. How did you manage this?" Miroku asked again.

The young girl had shrugged and looked down at Inuyasha's peeved face, still not satisfied with the amount of sit commands she had given. 'Cha! The jerk deserves more of a punishment for trying to tell us what to do!' A small voice in her mind shouted.

"Not gunna answer, huh wench?!" Inuyasha had shot up from his position on the floor, "Feh, bitch—"

"Osuwari!" Kagome hissed, not appreciating his language one bit, "You are such a pig, Inuyasha!" Then she had proceeded to storm out of Miroku's room, intent on going home. 'So much for information gathering.' She hadn't even been able to share anything with them because of their stupid spat. Gods, she was so screwed! One crazy ghost on her ass plus one hunter plus one territorial hanyou poltergeist equals death on a stick for her.

'I would have sat him more,' That little voice in her head had mumbled casually.

'I should have," Kagome mentally found herself replying.

"Kagome-chan!"

Sighing loudly, Kagome turned around to find Miroku running after her. She hadn't realized that she had made it as far as the street already. She just told herself that it was probably because she was too angry and was distracted too much, 'Open to be attacked by anyone. Gods I can be so stupid sometimes!' She mentally yelled. Feeling the monk beside her, she had resumed walking and paid hardly any attention to him as she did so.

"By the way, thank you for nearly breaking a hole in my floor. Really, anymore sits and I could have found myself redecorating my room with new flooring," Miroku had smiled lightly, trying to lift the mood.

The miko had rolled her eyes, "I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Mm, and also, about those beads…" Miroku began.

Kagome had regarded him with a weary glance before giving in, "I blame your antique store for those."

The monk had idly perked up, "My antique store? I could have sworn we didn't have any in stock—"

"That's because they came from a book," She added.

He thought for a moment, "As in, a hollow book or—"

"No," Kagome interrupted, "A book that had a lock on it opened when I touched it. There was a spell inside, and I said it and poof! Magical beads around that blockhead's neck." She explained.

They had stayed silent for most of their walk until they were close to the shrine grounds. Miroku had finally told her that he recalled the book that she mentioned, the one with the lock. The title of it came to mind and immediately he had begun to speak seriously about it. When they had entered her home they had kept quiet until they reached her room and then spoke again about it until Kagome was forced to show him the familiar book.

"Incredible," He mumbled, sifting through the pages quickly. "This book is filled with powerful binding spells and ancient incantations to ward off evil or to summon it. Some explanations in here also speak of the relation between necromancers and priestess's." He looked over the book with much interest.

"What is a necromancer anyways? I don't understand why this book called out to me specifically. It doesn't make sense!" Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose, very frustrated about everything right now.

"Necromancer's are those who can speak to the dead, raise their spirits, or bring back their spirits to their bodies and create the living dead. Basically a necromancer has the ability to control the dead," Miroku explained.

Kagome had groaned, crashing back on her bed, "Great, that's amazing." She covered her eyes with her arm and stifled another groan of misery.

Shutting the book loudly, Miroku was tempted to take it with him back home to examine it, but decided against it. This book was meant to be with her, so he was going to leave it with its mistress. Looking outside, he shivered at the thought of walking home. It was past dark and getting pretty late, but he knew he had to leave before it got any colder out, "Listen, will you be safe here if I leave you now?"

Kagome nodded numbly, "There's sutras on all the entrances of my house to ward off spirits during the night. Nothing can get in while it's dark out." She muttered, 'Including Inuyasha.' She mentally added with a tinge of guilt.

"Alright, I will take my leave then." Miroku stood up and dropped the book next to her on her bed, "Oh and by the way, I wouldn't worry about Inuyasha and his moods. Judging by his display earlier, I'd say he was afraid of losing his mate." He shrugged as if it were a mere minor problem, nothing serious.

But it _was_ serious.

"Mate?" Kagome repeated carefully.

What the hell did that mean?

"Yes, just some demon terminology for you," Miroku chuckled softly, ready to leave when she spoke again.

"What do you mean by that?!" Kagome sat up quickly. What the hell was a mate? Why did Miroku think that it involved her and Inuyasha? Oh god what had she gotten herself into this time!?

"I'll see you tomorrow morning! I'll pick you up before school!" He clearly ignored her flustered questions and just smiled brightly and left her to her problem.

'That perverted-good-for-nothing-jerk is going to get so hurt tomorrow.' Kagome had decided while she had set her alarm clock. First, she needed a bath, second sleep. Taking the book from her bed she had stuffed it under her mattress before grabbing her towel. She was about to leave her room when she felt a small feeling of comfort wash over her.

Strange.

Looking around her room she spotted no one, but…

She only felt this way when Inuyasha was around.

Shrugging, she had proceeded to continue with her plans, and left her room.

-X-

Outside of her bedroom window, Inuyasha sat and stared inside at Kagome. He held back a whine, wishing he was inside her room himself as opposed to outside in the cold. Not that he could feel the cold, it was just a figure of speech. He really wanted to be in there guarding her, and watching her sleep. Touching her cheek even. But no, he just had to be out here cause of the damn sutras of bloody death!!

'At least she's safe.' He thought, his golden eyes spying on her idly while she proceeded to leave the room to bathe. He had sat back and waited, that girl was so pampered, she had no idea… Sitting down against the small roof, he turned himself around to look at the moon. It was a cloudy night, but he could still see the moon shine brightly through the clouds.

He didn't know how long he had sat there until he heard shuffling behind him and had turned just in time to see Kagome drop her towel to put on her night clothes. Turning beat red he had coughed and backed up until he had fallen off the roof. Dematerializing before he hit the ground, he had reappeared sitting in the Goshinboku, his cheeks still madly red with embarrassment. 'Shit, if she knew I was spying on her…' He cringed at the thought of how angry she would be. She would sit him into oblivion if she were to find out.

'And she won't! There's no way in hell she's gunna know what I saw!' He mentally yelled, though he had absentmindedly grinned, the image of her bare form flashing back into his mind. 'Feh, I'm turning into that pervert!' Shaking his head he had closed his golden eyes and relaxed.

Tonight, he would watch over her from afar.

-X-

Kagome had gone to school that day accompanied by her ghost and a houshi. Boy, doesn't that sound like fun? She had to hold her tongue back so that she didn't sit Inuyasha for his foul mood towards Miroku while the monk tried to begin innocent conversations with her. It was a bad headache that she had a feeling would last until the end of the day. Which it did, actually it turned more into a migraine if anything.

After lunch that day, while she spent her time with Sango-chan and Miroku-san, they were greeted with the noise of sirens and screams. Kagome knew that it could only mean one thing. That stupid ghost, Hachu Shiba had struck again. She had told Miroku about him while Sango had decided to go get her lunch and of course right when they finish their meal the stupid boy strikes again. This time, he had been crueler than ever.

The jock boy, Hyuuga Shiro, had been the target. He was known for his excellence in sports and for his constant cocky behavior towards his buddies. He also liked to pick on the ninth graders and prank them.

"I just got back from checking things out," Inuyasha muttered after materializing next to Kagome. He had eyed Miroku and then Sango wearily, even if she couldn't hear him, he didn't trust her. "The kid was in a classroom with the same weird objects from your kitchen Kagome. The guy had apparently stuck his and in some object with spinning blades and," He shriveled his nose, "Ahem, lost his hand and bled to death." He shuffled uncomfortably, "There's a lot of blood in the room, I think that his female partner will be scarred for life."

Bile had risen in her throat, but she swallowed it back and nodded at Inuyasha's ghost form, "Okay," She whispered, giving Miroku a meaningful look. Sitting around in the cafeteria wasn't going to do them any good. Right now they needed to act quickly before the ghost tried to strike again. "Ah, Sango-chan," Kagome began, "Why don't we get out of here?"

"G-good idea, but do you think we can leave school?"

"Yes, I don't think the teachers actually expect every student to stay," Kagome began to leave with her friend accompanied by the other boys. Darting her eyes around, she kept her guard up to make sure that the ghost would not take her by surprise if it showed up. However she had instead found her eyes trailing after a familiar figure that was walking on the other side of the hallway back towards where they had come from.

'Bankotsu-san…' Kagome thought, biting her lower lip as she observed him briefly until they passed each other. The look in his eyes had been very odd… Very grim… She had chanced a look at Inuyasha and found that he was as stiff as a board and looking around all over the place oddly as well. 'What's with that look?'

"A hunter was just here," He growled softly.

Miroku had coughed, "How about I walk you home, Sango-san?" He suggested.

"But Kagome-chan—"

"I forgot I have something to do!" Kagome smiled apologetically. "Why don't you guys go do something, I'll catch up later."

Before Sango could argue Kagome had already separated from them and gone into the girls washroom. Waiting patiently for Inuyasha to follow, she had tapped her foot against the floor and crossed her arms. Well, no other girl in sight… So where was he? Walking back to the door she had opened it and glared at Inuyasha, his gaze meeting hers in confusion until he finally realized she had wanted him to come in. 'Duh, you dummy!' She thought, turning around and walking back in.

"Okay, why did you leave the monk's side, wench?! Are you stupid? He can protect you with his trained spiritual powers." Inuyasha half yelled.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "First he needs to get Sango home. We'll see him later, but right now we need to think of a plan to stop this kid before he continues to kill more boys!"

"So what, pray tell, do you expect us to do?"

"Well, we know his name now, right? So let's find out where his grave is and burn his corpse!"

Inuyasha nodded, "Right, and do we know where it is?"

Smiling nervously she shook her head, "But I know how we can find out."

-X-

"We shouldn't be here.." Inuyasha muttered under his breath, "We tried this last time and you got nowhere." He grumbled.

Giving him an impatient stare she had turned back to the unfamiliar door she had knocked on. She wasn't in the best neighborhood of life, and it made her feel nervous, but she knew that she was safe as long as Inuyasha was with her. Looking at the door, she had tapped her foot against the cement and waited for an answer. 'Come on old man…' She looked down at the page between her fingers, 'I know this is the place.'

Finally the door had creaked open eerily, and she was greeted by a hunched older gentleman with a cane and glasses. He had looked up at her with his old brown eyes and squinted, "Y-yes? Wh-what do you want?"

"Ah, hello Hachu-san." Kagome greeted with a smile, "My name is Kagome, and my older brother er, Souta, sent me here to give you his condolences about your son." She spoke gently, seeing the old man wince.

"Souta you say?"

"Yes! He was friends with your son years ago, but we had moved away before the accident… He found out through the news but never got a chance to come to the funeral himself until sometime later. Then me and my mom moved back here, and he told us about the anniversary yesterday…"

Inuyasha snorted, "Lying, huh? Much better than telling the truth, glad you learned something valuable from the last encounter."

"Ah, so he knew my son, did he?" He smiled, shuffling over to let her in, "Would you like some tea my dear?"

Success!

Kagome was later sitting in the living room, and sipping tea while the old father babbled on about his son and how kind he had been back in the day. Telling stories about how he would take care of his sick mother and tend to her every need until she passed away. Then he darkened and told her about his high school life and how he had taken a change for the worst. He had become horribly moody, was taking various drugs, and was being picked on by the older students.

"He was a good boy, until the death of his mother. After that he would come home with bruises and would often disappear for days at a time." He shook his head.

"So he was picked on by seniors too?" Kagome asked, just to be sure. At his nod she had held back a smile. That was why all the victims were jocks. They were the ones who tortured him in high school and made him suicidal!

Placing down her tea she had looked up at the various photos on the mantle above the fireplace, seeing that several were of his son and wife. Noticing the hanyous growing discomfort in this home she had decided to hurriedly finish this trip with her final question.

"So," She coughed, "Where is your son buried?" She asked casually, earning an odd look from him. "W-well, now that I know him a little b-better, I'd like to pay my respects to his grave…" She justified.

"He was cremated actually. His ashes spread in the wind." He replied.

Well shit, what was she supposed to do now?

She had thanked him for the tea and the company before leaving him. Hiding the fact that she was now frustrated with this little tid bit of information, she had walked over to the bus stop and stood nervously in the cold. Crossing her arms she turned to Inuyasha and huffed, a cloud of hot air escaping her lips against the chilly air.

"What now? There's no corpse to burn."

Inuyasha had nodded, "We just have our work cut out for us now."

"Meaning?"

"_Meaning_, the kid must have left a piece of his body behind somewhere."

"Excuse me? A piece of his body?"

"Yeah, like hair, or a nail or somethin'."

"And how do we find out where stuff like that is?!" She all but yelled.

"Ah, that's what a tracking incantation is for, wench. And for that, we need the monk."

She spotted the headlights of the bus nearing her stop, "Off to Miroku's we go." She said none too eagerly.

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**A/N Here's the chapter! Woo, this was supposed to go up like… yesterday. BUT! You'll never guess what happened! I had typed three pages, then the laptop I was using (My dads work laptop) got freaking attacked by a virus!! Seriously, what are the bloody chances?!? I was so pissed! And my family has been cracking jokes ever since then about how I'm going to infect everyone's computers with viruses! (I'm on my sister's laptop right now…) So, I re-wrote all of this plus more and made the chapter a little bit longer. So I hope you guys like it! Remember to Review, and Happy New Year guys!**


	8. November 7th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Now that I'm back in school and that portfolios are due soon, I probably won't be updating very much. I'll try my best though, since I seem to function better when I release some of my scattered thoughts onto word documents. Well, read on! Oh, and thanks for all your reviews! Love you guys!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 8. November 7th**

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They had been arguing hotly ever since Kagome had arrived at the monk's home. Kagome had unceremoniously kicked out Inuyasha due to her immense irritation and her rising levels of untamed miko powers flowing through the home. Ever since the topic of _tracking spells_ had come up, Miroku had been determined to let Inuyasha know of the existence of the book Kagome hid under her mattress. Not that she didn't trust the hanyou, but she felt that the book should stay hidden for the time being until she's positive she can completely trust him.

"But Kagome-chan, my tracking incantations aren't very powerful and would take sometime to do, time we don't have!" The monk tried to argue.

The flustered girl shook her head, "We have the weekend to do this! There's no way we are using _that_ to find the guy's remains! Who knows what else it will do in the process… I think it's way more powerful than it looks!"

"As I recall, it called for a powerful charm and a few candles—"

"Black cat bones and weird spices?! I think not!" Kagome bursted, "We are going to just have to rely on the school map we have and a crystal pendant for dousing." She concluded, glaring at him darkly, as if daring him to go against her wishes.

Laughing nervously he had leaned away from Kagome and held up his hands in defeat, "W-well, I suppose we'll have to do it that way… But we may not find it in one night, especially if it is something as small as a fingernail."

"Fine by me!" Kagome crossed her arms and sat back down in Miroku's computer chair.

The seconds ticked by silently, though the hostility around them began to die down and so the air felt more relaxing than awkward. Miroku had mumbled something about food just as the girl's stomach began to growl and they had gone down to the kitchen to find something to eat. He told her that his parents had passed away when he was younger and that he lived with an old drunk that knew his grandfather. So every night he would be responsible for his own meals and often cooked healthy for the sake of the drunkard.

That night's meal consisted of stir-fry and noodles. Some of which had landed on the floor because of Inuyasha's abrupt appearance while Kagome had been walking back to the table with a plate full of food. Needless to say, Inuyasha had been forced to kiss the floor for spooking her.

"You abuse these damn things, you know that?!" Inuyasha hollered, yanking at the beads around his neck.

Kagome snorted, "Oh please, you deserve it most of the time." She ate another noodle quietly while Miroku shot uncertain looks towards the hanyou.

"Well uh," He cleared his throat. "Why don't we go to the school after dinner to try dousing? It would be a good place to start." He suggested.

"Fine by me," Kagome answered.

The monk had looked over at Inuyasha and earned a grudging nod. 'Alright…' He thought and looked between the pair silently. Somehow, he knew that this was going to be a long night. Especially with Kagome in one of her moods, 'At least I don't have to worry about the beads of subjugation… If Sango-san had her way, I'd be in hell right about now.'

He cringed at the thought and decided that he wouldn't think about it anymore and would rather concentrate on eating.

-X-

Kagome rubbed her arms to keep warm while they walked through the school. Most of the lights were off and at times they would have the need to hide because of a wandering security guard. If it weren't for Inuyasha keeping look out they would have been screwed over a long time ago. When they reached the second floor of the school they had sat down in the centre of a hallway and laid out a map of the school.

"What now?" Kagome whispered, turning on a flashlight to see the map more clearly.

"We use the crystal necklace to douse… You should do this since you've seen him more than me." Miroku reached into his black shoulder bag and removed the piece of jewellery, handing it over to Kagome.

"M-me?"

Inuyasha grunted, "Listen wench, we don't have much time to argue. Just do what he says and track that mother fuckers remains before he finds us first."

Kagome shot glares at him before wrapping the chain around a finger and dangling it over the map. The crystal hung in the centre and she looked over to Miroku for some help. Honestly, did she look like a professional ghost hunter? How could they expect her to get this done! Miroku was supposed to be the one doing this, not her.

"Just close your eyes and focus on him and his remains," He spoke.

She mumbled a few curses under her breath before she closed her eyes and thought of the boy from the newspaper clipping she found. She imagined how normal he once was before he turned into such a twisted spirit, killing innocents because of his past. Then she thought of why he was still here, what bound him to this school, this world. 'Where is it… I want to know where you are…' She thought.

She remembered how the hentai had said that it would take a while before actually locating the remains. That thought had upset her, because at any time, that boy ghost could strike again. With the practices that are held on weekends for sports, there's no doubt Shiba would be tempted to hurt another jock.

Now determined, she tried her best to focus on her task. She absolutely needed to find the source keeping his spirit here. She needed to stop him from hurting more people. She really needed to stop him, tonight. Now.

Images of the school flashed in her mind. The classrooms, the hallways, the lockers. It was as if she was being guided through the school to a specific location.

An image of the boy's washroom door had quickly passed through her thoughts just as a sudden rush of cool air had flowed through her body until it tingled through her fingertips, and finally to end of the pendant.

"There, the washrooms," She vaguely heard Miroku say.

Well, that was a lot easier then she had anticipated. It also made sense to be in the washroom since that's where the overdose had happened.

"Kagome-chan? You can open your eyes now," She heard him speak again, but found that she was too deep to really respond to that. Almost as if her body was shut down as her consciousness buried itself very much within her mind. 'Miroku-san? Why can't I move?' She thought.

"Shit, she's in a meditative state monk! I knew you should have been the one to do it! Now she's stuck until she can figure out how to wake herself up!" She heard Inuyasha howl. She flinched at how loud his voice was, 'Jeez, can you being any more obnoxious?' She thought with a mild temper brewing.

"W-wait, look at that Inuyasha! It looks like she responded to your voice," Miroku's voice entered her mind again. Judging by how nervous he sounded, she'd bet that Inuyasha had approached him while flexing his claws. 'Oh god, please tell me that this isn't some weird _mate_ thing Miroku mentioned yesterday. Whatever _that_ means…' She thought.

"You think?" Inuyasha's voice had calmed and she could feel her face flushing for some reason. It's like she could feel how close he was without even looking, she just knew his face was inches from hers, looking inquisitive. "Kagome, if you can hear me, listen carefully. I need you to force yourself to be aware of everything around you. I need you to focus on bringing yourself back to the real world." He sounded much too serious to be the hanyou that she knew. That's for damn sure.

"Try real hard wench, 'cause if you don't wake up, I might just take advantage of your uh… _predicament_." Ah, that's the egotistic baka she knew, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. The nerve of him! Thinking he could take advantage of her? That… That insufferable-son-of-a—

In that moment her eyes had whipped opened and the word had rolled off her tongue oh so easily.

"Sit!"

As suspected, he was just in front of her, and now he was kissing her lap rather painfully. She winced at the piercing pain from his face colliding in her thighs and she held back repeating the word. She also shot glares to the clearly amused Miroku who sat little ways away from them. More of less out of slapping range. Clever little thing…

"God damn woman!" Inuyasha growled in her lap, lifting himself from her thighs to glare at her viciously, "I didn't deserve that!"

"Oh please! You were going to take advantage of me! Of course you deserved it! Pervert!" Kagome bit back.

"I did that so you could wake up you stupid—"

"Ahem, I believe we have other things to—"

"Stay out of it!" Kagome and Inuyasha said in unison.

Miroku sighed wearily, their bickering making him oddly think of Sango. Standing up, he patted his school uniform to rid the dirt and looked up boredly to peek around the halls. He felt an odd sensation before the rest of the lights that were on had begun to flicker. He was about to curse under his breath when Inuyasha had beat him to it, and stood next to him with Kagome and the map, "It looks like we attracted our ghost friend." The houshi said tightly.

"Kagome, monk, go to where the remains are. I'll hold this prick back for as long as I can," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles loudly, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"B-but—"

"Come on Kagome-chan, nothing will happen to him. Unfortunately for us however, we are humans that are quite capable of _dying_." Miroku told her, taking her by her wrist and tugging her along.

She shivered when the lights finally went out, leaving them in the dark with only a flashlight to lead the way. Well, there _was_ a flashlight lighting their way until it too had flickered and went out, leaving them in complete darkness. 'Okay, don't panic! Miroku-san seems to know his way around in the dark. No worries Kagome' She mentally cooed, trying her best to stay cool. Before she knew it, they had stopped running and she found herself in a washroom… That was definitely not the little girls room.

"What is that _smell_?" Kagome gagged, covering her nose with one of her delicate hands.

"Oh that?" Miroku inhaled deeply, "That, is the permanent stench of man. Many have tried and failed to find out exactly where it's coming from…" He shrugged his shoulders, "You kind of get used to it."

"Oh gross," Kagome coughed. "Let's just find the stupid remains and get out of here before I die from this rancid smell."

"Right, well do you still have the crystal?"

Kagome nodded her head and stuffed her hands in her pocket to retrieve it. Her breath hitched in her throat, and it wasn't because of the stench. Checking her pockets again she had come to the conclusion that she had dropped the crystal while they had booked it down the halls. 'Oh god.'

"Kagome-chan?"

After a few minutes she had sheepishly smiled, "Uh, I don't have it."

Miroku cursed, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Sorry."

Shaking his head he had taken out sutras from his bag, "You will have to focus on your own now instead of channelling yourself through the crystal. You will have to go deep again into that meditative state."

Kagome squeaked, "B-but what if that creep comes in here?"

The monk lifted his sutras, "Not to worry, I am a trained monk. And besides, I'm sure Inuyasha won't let anything happen to you either."

Kagome laughed weakly, "Right." 'As if, I bet he wants me to die dozens of deaths for having sat him so many times.' She thought before closing her eyes to focus again.

Beside her, Miroku searched through his bag, taking out a small bag of salt. He figured it could come in handy in a tight situation. Looking up, he dully noted the girl's closed eyes as he narrowed his own to better see in the dark.

Things were far too quiet for his taste. If anything, he should be hearing Inuyasha's struggles against the other poltergeist, not this absolute silence. 'Where is he..?' The monk thought, letting out a breath he had been holding. Looking down, he could see the small puff of hot air mixing with the chilling cool air. 'He's near.' He grasped one of his sutras in preparation and opened the bag of salt.

_"—Die!" _

"_Duck monk—!"_

Miroku dropped to the ground quickly, just barely catching two glowing figures above him. The first was the deranged student, the second was a really pissed off Inuyasha leaping over him to tackle the spirit and hold him back. He winced hearing all kinds of cracks and screams from the dead student as Inuyasha continuously snapped bones and ripped flesh. Of course everything would right itself after a few minutes, but generally speaking in those moments of vulnerability, a hunter would have just enough time to purify the spirit.

Too bad this stupid thing was so tainted. Otherwise the monk would have purified its ass a long time ago.

"What the hell are you bakas doin'?! Find the god damn remains—" Inuyasha was cut off by a wild scream from the student and was struck back harshly through one of the walls of the washroom.

This left the crazed spirit to battle the monk instead, it's body completely twisted from all the broken limbs that were shifting to heal. The monk had cringed and tossed two of his sutra spells at the ghost. He had gaped when the papers had burned blue before touching their intended target and for a moment, he was frightened.

"I'll… Kill… You…" The ghost of Shiba dragged his feet lazily across the floor, one of his shoulders popping loudly back into place as well as his elbow.

Miroku backed up slowly from the approaching enemy 'Oh boy...' When his back had collided with the cement wall of the washroom, he had swallowed loudly and watched the spirit get closer to him. The boy's neck had snapped back up into place just as he was within an arms distance of the monk. Mentally muttering a small prayer, the monk had grasped the little bag firmly in his hand.

"Take this!" He bellowed, showering the spirit with the salt.

Screeching, the poltergeist had dematerialized in a puff of black smoke.

Dropping the sac, Miroku had grasped his chest to try and will his heart to slow down. That had been a very close call for him. 'I hate malevolent spirits… I just hate them.' He thought with a small sigh.

"I found it!" He heard Kagome's voice echo in the room. "The remains, their in the wall!"

He was about to congratulate her when hands had suddenly wrapped themselves around his neck, cutting off the air circulation to his lungs. 'No!'

The miko, still unaware of what was going on around her, had called out to the monk uncertainly, "Miroku-san? Are you there?" She asked, squinting her eyes to look around the washroom more clearly. She could hear ruffling material and small but distinct noises coming from her right side. 'Oh god, please tell me he's still alive.. Oh my god please don't be dead, don't be dead…' She continued the mental mantra for a few more seconds until the sight of Miroku had entered her line of vision. 'Oh thank jes—' She screeched finally seeing the faintly glowing spirit hands around his throat.

Without a second thought she had yelled at the top of her lungs, "Inu-_ya_shaaaa!" The ghost strangling the monk had walked through the wall while still keeping a firm hold on him. He had looked back at her, a sly grin forming on his face. This boy Shiba scared the living crap out of her. His eyes were beyond psychotic and it frightened her to see someone who used to be so good be so bad. 'Oh god, oh god, oh my freaking god!! Inuyasha! _Inuyasha!_' Kagome thought, wild with panic.

Miroku's choked voice sounded softly, "B-burn… re—mains.. Ka…" He was silenced by a worsened pressure again his throat.

"You die now! Die!" Shiba laughed maniacally.

His face was turning from blue to purple, though you couldn't see it in this darkness. His mind was also beginning to shut down and his eyesight fading, until three golden claws of light had appeared across his vision, blinding him for a moment. A whoosh of fresh air entered the monk's lungs immediately, and he realized that none other than the ill-tempered hanyou removed the ghost. About damn time too.

"I'll admit this much kid, you can pack a punch," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles. "I won't let that happened again, I can promise you that," His claws glowed with the intent of ripping apart the boy.

Kagome had run behind Inuyasha for brief cover before kneeling next to the injured houshi and helping him up, "Are you okay Miroku-san?"

"F-fine," He coughed violently and rubbed his throat. "That's going to bruise," He chuckled softly.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "Please don't joke right now. I need you to be serious and help me with the remains."

"R-right."

She heaved him to a particular section of the washroom, eying the poltergeist wearily. It seemed that Inuyasha and Shiba were have a Mexican stand off. Shaking her head she had let go of Miroku and pointed to a brick in the wall. "It's painted over, but I know it's in there somewhere."

The monk had brushed a hand against the painted wall, "Right well…" He reached into his bag and dug around, pulling out a Swiss army knife casually.

"W-what are you doing with that?!"

Miroku shrugged, "It's practically an unwritten rule that a guy carries one of these around."

Shiba, had turned to them and snarled, dematerializing and reappearing behind them in a split second. However Inuyasha had been quicker, and had stopped the boy from remotely getting near Kagome in a violent manner. Releasing a snarl of his own, Inuyasha had slashed the boy to pieces before turning sharply to the frozen humans behind him, "Don't just sit there. Hurry your asses up!"

Miroku had started to carve around the block of cement, chipping away at the paint until he had fully gone around the entire thing. Shooting Kagome a brief look, he had begun to pry at the thing awkwardly before he managed to get a good grip and fully remove the surprisingly very light cement block. "It's hollow," He remarked, dropping the block on the floor loudly.

The girl next to him had wandered her fingers over the top of it until she found a small latch that took off the top part of the block, revealing its contents on the inside. There sat an old syringe with blood no doubt still on it, some papers, a substance that looked like marijuana completely and utterly dried to the point that if it were touched, it looked like it would just disintegrate, and finally a pair of rubber gloves.

"Oh this is so gross," Kagome cringed.

Miroku had shrugged his shoulders and opened his bag, taking out a small bottle of lighter fluid and some matches.

"_No_! I won't let you! Not after all they did!" A screeching voice exploded from above them. Though despite his efforts, Inuyasha was determined to keep the boy back.

"Goddamn it! _Houshi_!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Miroku shouted back, covering every object in the box with the fluid for good measure before lighting the thing up.

"_Wraaaa_!" The boy howled in pain, trying in vain to grab Inuyasha and drag him down with him. Though try as he might, only his soul burned up to ashes.

And just when they thought that from here on, things would lighten up, they didn't. A moment of silence was all they had before the damn school fire alarms began to go off due to their mini bon fire.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Get outta here, I'll stay back to make sure everythin' gets burned up," Inuyasha ordered.

The two students didn't have to be told twice, and had left the premises quickly, the sounds of sirens echoing throughout the streets as they ran to the safety of a side road. Both gasping for air, they looked at each other with a sense of pride, sharing a weak high five and loose smiles.

"Gods, I never want to enter a guys washroom again," Kagome moaned later on that night on their slow stroll home. Miroku had kindly offered to escort her since Inuyasha had yet to come back.

Laughing lightly, he replied, "It wasn't that bad. I can't imagine the girls washroom smelling like flowers either."

Kagome stopped and looked at him dumbly, "Oh but they do. For some reason it always smells like fresh spring blossoms."

Miroku stared in disbelief, "That's just not fair."

Kagome grinned, "Life just isn't fair these days now is it?" She started to walk again until they reached the shrine grounds. They bid one another good night, Kagome entering her dark house as quietly as possible as to not wake up any of her family members. Saying she was exhausted would be an understatement. She was beyond tired and felt so drained that she hadn't even bothered to change out of her outfit. Instead she had crashed onto her bed, eying the clock to see the time. Of course it was close to one in the morning, as if ghost hunting could take any less time.

'How the heck were we gone that long? Well whatever…' She had just drifted off to sleep, unaware that her special watch hanyou had returned and seated himself outside her window, keeping an eye on her as she slept.

-X-

"So another job done, eh?" A voice drawled out.

"Shaddap! And don't give me that look! They were all over this one, I could barely get to the evidence without that damn mutt sniffing around and catching me there," The other man scowled, watching from his parked car all of the firefighters gathering around the school as well as some policemen.

"Mm, we should get out of here."

"Ch, I couldn't agree more," Revving up the engine, they had driven off.

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**A/N Yeah, total inspiration sooo comes from Supernatural! Love that show! Dean is soooo sexy, Sam… could use a haircut. Lol. Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter! R&R please!**


	9. November 23rd

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N A-ah… I'm sorry for the wait. School and all… Anyways, here's the chapter! Enjoy you guys! Oh and to Answer Fire Inu Princess, Inuyasha is learning how to touch things like other spirits, he isn't turning into flesh and bone. **

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 9. November 23rd**

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The next couple of weeks had been very quiet, and for sometime Kagome believed that her life had finally gone back to normal. Well, as normal as can be anyways. Inuyasha was definitely still around and if anything, more attached to her than ever. There have been a couple of times when he would speak to her in-class while she would be trying to pay attention to her teacher, each small conversation ending with her muttering a sit command.

Honestly, he was beginning to suffocate her. 'It's not like it's his fault though, what else is a spirit supposed to do when no one else can see it?' She thought as she walked home in company of Sango-chan and Miroku-san. And as usual, Inuyasha kept to one side of Kagome while her school friends were on her other.

"Kagome-chan who are you going to bring to the winter formal this year? I hear that Houjo-kun could be a potential again, or even that guy you danced with at Halloween, what was his name again… Ano…" Sango-chan thought for a moment, completely oblivious to the growling hanyou next to Kagome.

"Ah, you mean Bankotsu-san," Miroku filled in for her with a small chuckled.

"Hai! That's the name," Sango smiled and nudged Kagome playfully, "You were all gaga for him last I checked."

"Nani?!" Inuyasha shouted, "The hell is she talking about going 'gaga', wench?!"

Kagome's eyebrow twitched, 'Oh my freaking god… I will loose it soon, I swear it!' She thought. Forcing a smile, Kagome had laughed lightly, "N-no, I don't think that'll happen Sango-chan. I haven't spoken to him in a while…"

Sango had blinked, "Oh, that's too bad. You two could have made a cute couple." She teased.

Laughing sheepishly, Kagome had brushed her off and soon separated from the group to start walking up the shrine steps. With a small wave goodbye she had continued her way up with a hanyou hot on her heels. She could just hear him seething behind her, and she fought the urge to just tell him to chill out. 'How did he become so possessive? Then again, he was pretty much always like this..' She thought, remembering the time when she had actually taken a moment to look up the word _mate_ on the online dictionary at school.

She had blushed so badly when she looked up at all the different meanings behind the word. She figured it didn't mean friendship, but wife? Spouse? Then it could be used as a verb, _to mate_. That made her go beat red and shut down the website. When Miroku told her that Inuyasha was just concerned about his intended mate, what he meant was that Inuyasha was concerned for his fiancé.

When the hell had she become his fiancé!?

Naturally, she had cornered Miroku and forced him to spill beans about what he meant and eventually found out that in Inuyasha's hanyou-twisted-sort-of-way, Kagome was a potential mate. And probably _the_ potential mate. However, could he not see the obvious problem of um… Ahem..

The whole _dead_ thing!!

He was a spirit, she was flesh and bones.

No possible way to... Uh, mate.

Miroku had then told her that maybe things could change, or maybe there was some weird demon thing that allowed them to—before he could finish, she had screeched at him and given him a harsh slap to his cheek before stomping off.

Now looking up that the sky, Kagome remembered that day quite clearly. She had been really flustered for the rest of the day to the point where Inuyasha was worried about her. But she could hardly look at him without blushing and squeaking out mild responses of "I'm okay," and "It's nothing, really."

She laughed to herself and continued to walk across the shrine grounds, stopping briefly to look up at the Goshinboku. Almost all the leafs had fallen, meaning winter was going to be here very soon. Yet despite the lack of leafs, the tree still looked glorious, and still felt just as spiritually strong.

"This tree looks exactly like it did five hundred years ago," Inuyasha remarked next to her. With his constant hovering around her, she had become use to him and had regarded him with a questioning look.

"This tree was around when you were alive?"

He had turned his golden gaze to her and smirked, "Hard to believe is it?" He snorted, "Silly girl, this tree was a very powerful symbol back when I was alive. See that branch up there?" He pointed to a flat branch in the centre of the tree, "That's where I would sleep most nights. It had the perfect amount of coverage during the summer months so I could stay hidden from annoying humans."

Kagome smiled softly, "Souta and I would try climbing this tree, but we'd never get further than the first few branches."

The hanyou chuckled, "Yeah, that's why I hid in the middle, they'd never know I was there." His gaze washed over the rest of the tree until it landed to the centre of the trunk, "And that scar… where the bark is missing and the hole…" He whispered. "I…"

Kagome looked over at him worriedly, and she shyly grabbed one of his clawed hands for comfort, "Are you alright?" She asked.

Inuyasha shook his head, "Feh, it's nothin', I'm fine."

Kagome rolled her eyes, men and their egos. Simply hopeless. 'He's lying again.. And I get this feeling though that maybe he was involved in that? Judging by that hole, it could have been made with an arrow. I always wondered how the tree had gotten that scar.' She thought, giving Inuyasha's hand another squeeze of comfort, "Hey, mind taking me up to that middle branch? I'd like to see what the view is like."

Inuyasha had looked at her in surprise, "Really?" He then grinned toothily and tugged the girl into his arms before leaping up into the tree quickly.

Kagome had yelped at the sudden woosh of air, but then settled down when they stopped. Without all the foliage disrupting their view, Kagome could see most of Tokyo from within the tree. And during the sunset no less, "It's beautiful Inuyasha."

The hanyou nodded, "I admit, it is a sight to see. Even in this time." He had grudgingly dropped his hands from her waist in favour of remaining on the girl's good side. Though he craved to touch her more, he was still just as satisfied with inhaling her scent as the breeze tousled her hair.

'Damn, I can feel the youkai getting agitated inside me…' He thought, raising a clawed hand to clutch his head, 'Wh-what the hell! Why am I feeling like this? She's just a girl.' The hanyou thought, shifting his gaze to look around the sky quickly. He had targeted the source of his problem soon after, a frown forming on his lips, 'There, it's going to be a full moon this week. But even then, I've never had my demon blood become so anxious before because of the lunar cycle.'

"Inuyasha?"

The hanyou had shaken his thoughts away and looked down at Kagome quickly, "Huh, yeah?"

"We better get inside before you get lock out again," She told him, slightly worried about the faded purple stripes that had forms along his cheeks. 'I wonder if he's upset about something?'

The hanyou had focused back on the sun and nodded, it was almost completely set, just enough time to get into the house. "I'll take you down and meet you in the house," He said, grabbing her gently before leaping out of the tree and landing softly on the ground. With that, he had dematerialized and entered her house right before the final rays of sun had lit the horizon.

Looking around quickly, Kagome had sighed in relief that no one had seen her mysteriously float out of a tree and land unharmed on the pavement. Boy would that be a story to tell. 'At least I'm being careful about it though,' She thought as she continued her walk home. She had slid open the front door and closed it loudly behind herself, removing her shoes and bag quickly, "Tadaima!" She shouted, walking into the kitchen only to find her mother beginning dinner.

"Welcome home dear, dinner will be ready shortly. Why don't you go ahead and get cleaned up?" She smiled.

"Sure," Kagome waved and was off to her room. Once she was in, she closed the door behind herself and sighed loudly, "Man am I glad to be home…" She crashed on her bed sloppily. That's when an irritating voice that could only belong to her little brother, had shouted through her door and opened it. "Souta! What did I say about—"

"A-ah!! I got permission from mom! Some guy is on the phone for you. His name is Mi-roku," The boy sounded out, "Is he your boooyfriend?" He taunted.

Kagome shot him glares and jumped off her bed to swipe the cordless phone from her little brother. It had been easy enough considering how scared he looked when she shot him her evilest of glares, and had then slammed her door shut once more with a huff. She grumbled under her breath about annoying brothers and ignored Inuyasha's soft chuckles, indicating that he had been watching.

"Hello?" Kagome finally said when she placed the phone against her ear.

"Ah Kagome, we have a problem."

Great, just when things were looking up for her, some new supernatural being just had to march over and ruin it for her. "What's wrong Miroku-san? And please don't tell me we have a ghost problem."

"Well no, not _a_ ghost problem per say.."

"Then what?" Kagome muttered suspiciously.

"I'd say about four ghost problems…" She heard him nervously say. In the background she could hear complaining and small arguments gradually getting louder.

Kagome groaned, "Wonderful, I'll be over after dinner."

"Alright, see you then."

"Bye," She clicked off the phone. In front of her, Inuyasha had materialized with a worried look plastered on his face.

"Wench, I could here 'em arguing about not being dead. They're pretty pissed off."

Kagome nodded, "I'll be careful, but for now, mind getting out of here so I can change?" She asked timidly.

"Ya sure you don't want me stickin' around? I don't mind the show," He grinned.

Kagome glared, "Out."

He dematerialized as she tossed her pillow at him, his chuckles filling her room.

"Jerk."

-X-

On her way to Miroku's home, dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and a fall jacket, the miko mentally prepared herself for the four teenage ghosts. During dinner, her mother had told her about the newspaper article she had read earlier today. Apparently there was an awful car accident involving four teenagers Saturday night. The police think it was a hit and run deal since the car clearly showed dents where it was hit and shoved off the highway into a tree.

All the passengers in the car didn't survive.

Kagome put two and two together and figured that they were the issue Miroku was so nervously telling her about. She had sent Inuyasha ahead to help Miroku keep them calm, but she figured she would be regretting that decision very soon. If anything, she'd walk in on the hanyou chewing them out for being idiots. Naturally, it was much worse than that. In fact, she had walked in on the half demon beating up the three boys while the girl stood on the side lines screeching her head off at them.

Hurray for Mondays!

"Sit boy," Kagome mumbled dryly under her breath.

The boys had managed to separate themselves from the hanyou on the floor to sit back with their female friend who now eyed Kagome with a dark look. The miko could only describe it as a look of jealousy, but was confused as to why this little twit would be jealous of her. 'Thank god we're home alone here, otherwise I'm sure Miroku's guardian would have a drunken fit!' She thought to herself as she observed the dead teens wearily.

They all stood, safe for Inuyasha, in the living room where Kagome guessed they had bombarded Miroku while he was watching TV. "They surprised me, that's for sure." Miroku grunted, crashing on his couch with a small groan. "They said that they were directed to me by some ragged woman."

"She like, wore a weird torn dress and had a long, wrinkly face…" The girl said.

"Yeah, she was saying something about going into the light and bull like that," One of the boys said, as a scratch that had torn up his cheek had slowly started to stitch itself back together. "So we told the hag to fuck off and then got sent here."

"His name is Mamoru," Miroku pointed out, "The girl is Toko, that red haired guy is Allen, and the black haired one is Sosuke. They're from East Shikon High, our sister school."

As soon as the sit command had worn off, Inuyasha had stood next to Kagome and placed his hands in either of his red sleeves, "You dumbasses better be happy now! You just pissed off a Reaper."

"A Reaper? As is in the Grim Reaper?" Allen asked nervously, earning an elbow in the stomach from Sosuke.

"No you baka, Reaper's don't exist, and we're not dead! This is all just some weird high we must be on together," He reasoned. "And you," Sosuke pointed to Inuyasha with a chuckle, "Are just some weird dude with long hair and fake dog ears. What a loser."

The hanyou cracked his knuckles warningly, "Monk, send these idiots packing before I tears 'em apart." He growled, his anger barely being held back now. Even within Kagome's presence it seemed that instead of having the usual calming effect, he was getting that much more restless. If he had to guess as to why he was feeling this way, he'd blame it all on his territorial demon side that was just itching to come out and play.

Kagome nervously glanced at Inuyasha and bit her lip, 'His demon stripes are starting to form again,' She thought worriedly. "Miroku-san, what would be the best way to approach this? They just died, so their funerals probably haven't happened yet, so we can't burn anything."

"Whoa, whoa," Mamoru said, "What the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to kill us lady?"

"You're already dead! Get that through your damn skulls already!" Inuyasha snarled.

Miroku sighed, this had been the whole argument that had started the brawl earlier. He had already sacrificed a coffee table to this mess no thanks to the temperamental hanyou, and he'd rather nothing else be broken in his home. Rubbing his temples, the monk tried to think of any solution that could help them, "Ah, Kagome-chan mind if we speak elsewhere?"

Kagome nodded, "Sure." She placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and smiled, "Watch them okay? Don't break out into a fight."

"Keh, I make no promises to that wench," He replied.

Rolling her eyes, the miko had followed after Miroku into another room that she assumed was the study. Once inside, Miroku had closed the doors behind her and walked up to the desk that sat further away, leaning against it. Taking his example, she had made herself comfortable on the leather couch and cocked her head to the side, "So…?"

"I had a thought," He merely said.

Kagome narrowed her eyes again in suspicion, "You were thinking about that book again, weren't you?" When he didn't reply she had growled at him, "We can't depend on that book for everything! I already told you, it's way too powerful. And we don't know what can happen if we recite these spells."

"But you have been reading it, haven't you?"

The young girl fidgeted, "…When Inuyasha isn't around…"

Nodding he continued, "Did you go over the section about exorcisms?"

"Look, there is no way we can do it! The incantation is written in Latin and it calls for candles and chicken blood Miroku-san. _Chicken blood_. This book is twisted, and there's no way we are doing this," Kagome hurriedly defended.

The monk pushed himself off the desk and approached her, "Kagome-chan these spirits are confused and on the brink of becoming demonic. They told off a Reaper and got sent here, still believing their alive mind you, so what exactly can we do? Our hands are tied unless they voluntarily move on, however I doubt they will because they can't seem to get passed the dead part. Not to mention they strongly believe that they were purposefully killed, which has fuelled them even more to remain here until their murder is resolved." He breathed in deeply and stepped back from the mildly shocked girl.

She never knew Miroku-san to be serious with anything. He would always joke about so much and shrug everything off so easily, not mention was the biggest pervert of life. 'But he's right. These guys are getting anxious, maybe.. No, it's too dangerous.' "Why can't you send their spirits off? Aren't you able to do that?"

"No, I can only send those who have come to terms with their death, and are ready to leave. These ones are confused and wish to remain here."

"Then, how about we find their killer? Would that bring them peace?"

Miroku stuffed his hands in his pockets and thought for a moment, "It's possible. But we don't even know where to start."

"I think I do," Kagome grinned.

-X-

Kagome had taken over the monk's computer while questioning the ghost about the last thing they remembered before the accident. She had come to learn that they were the party kinds of people and jocks to boot, meaning they had a long list of potentials that could want them dead. She had then furthered her investigation by looking up their high school and website, sifting through the school news. That's when she found the lead suspect for this case.

Some guy named Kageshi Noegi, the head of tech club, had just lost his little sister in an accident two weeks earlier. Apparently the junior had attended a seniors-only party and gotten herself so smashed that she had fallen into the pool in Mamoru's backyard. Since everyone was very inebriated, they didn't really notice her struggling until it was too late. The poor girl had drowned that night.

So without mentioning this to the group, Kagome had printed off the address of this kid and pocketed the information. The last thing she wanted to do was send four hostile poltergeist to the house of the guy who potentially could have killed them. Yeah, that'd end real well.

Shutting down the computer, Kagome had gotten up and huffed, "Well you guys, I'll go and check on some suspects tomorrow. For now though, you should just make yourselves comfortable and wait."

At this, Miroku had stood up and protested, "Wait, you aren't suggesting they stay here, are you?" He asked, almost afraid. She could see why though since he had already lost a coffee table in this whole ordeal. But, them's the breaks.

"Yup!" Kagome smiled all too brightly, "And Inuyasha too."

"Wait what?! What do you mean Inuyasha too?!" The hanyou loudly protested.

Jeez, were all men this whinny?

"Someone needs to watch them. Preferably someone who doesn't need sleep and who can handle them. You are a ghost, and a demon. Now what do you know, a perfect solution to the problem!" Kagome told him, "Besides, it's not like you can get back into my house tonight anyways, so you might as well be put to good use."

He grunted under his breath something that sounded vaguely like 'controlling bitch', but the miko had ignored it. She figured he'd get pissed at her, so oh well. "Now that this is settled, I'm going home. Good luck." Kagome gave the monk a thumbs up before slyly making her escape.

She was happy to be outside again, and in the fresh air. It generally did her some good and—She stopped mid walk when she noticed someone at the end Miroku's driveway. He seemed equally shocked to see her, which led her to believe that maybe this was just another coincidence. But could that really be? "Bankotsu-san, what are you doing out so late?" 'And here, of all places?' She mentally added in thought.

"Ah," Bankotsu-san scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I live around here, so I was just taking a walk to clear my head about some stuff." He had pocketed his hands in his jeans, looking quite handsome in his button down blue and white shirt and brown leather jacket.

Raising an eyebrow, the miko spoke, "Is that so?" 'Is he a stalker or something?'

"Yeah, but I should head back now," Bankotsu grinned proudly. "Would you like a chaperone home?"

Hell, with the way he looked, she'd let him stalk her any day, "Ha, why not? You never know when some creep can pop out of nowhere," She teased, beginning her walk home with him. His company was actually comforting, and she hardly felt nervous around him anymore. Maybe tonight really was just a coincidence, and he was just walking by Miroku's house.

"Ch, I'm just as surprised to see you as you are," Bankotsu defended.

Yup, just a normal coincidence, for once! "Oh, I'm sure you—"

_"If you think for one minute I'm gunna babysit those idiots you got another thing—"_ Inuyasha's form had materialized right in front of Kagome and Bankotsu, however he had frozen mid-sentence when his gaze had fallen on the boy next to his miko.

'Oh _crap_,' Kagome mentally panicked, 'Oh no no no nooooo.' She had glanced over at Bankotsu nervously, who in return regarded her with a confused look. Jeez, now she had a rampaging-foaming-at-the-mouth hanyou to deal with.

"Is there any reason why we stopped walking?" He asked.

"Kagome, get behind me." Inuyasha growled, "_Now_."

"Ah…"Kagome looked back at Inuyasha and tried to make a motion for him to get lost, but he just didn't get it. Instead, he had actually crouched into a fighting stance and bared his fangs threateningly at Bankotsu, 'That's weird, why is he getting so worked up about this?' She knew he had been acting strange all day, but this? He was starting to cross a line now, threatening humans of all things!

"_Hunter, you better step away from that girl before I rip you open for even standing next to her_," Inuyasha snarled in the most dangerous, deadliest voice Kagome had ever heard him use. What even made him more frightening was his eye's flashing red and blue, and those jagged purple stripes returning on his cheeks.

And wait, did he say _hunter_?

Bankotsu had finally looked back at Inuyasha and acknowledge him with a cocky grin, "You're much too serious, mutt. Though I have to disagree about your claims you have on this girl, seeing as you're nothing but a floating spirit… I personally think this relationship isn't going to work out."

In seconds, Inuyasha had Bankotsu by the neck and raised off the ground. Something that would be painful to a normal human was tolerable for a hunter, "You have no right to challenge my claims, hunter." He sneered in his deep, demonic voice. "I outrank you by far."

Bankotsu chuckle, "I doubt that, and besides you're a ghost now.. So you're ranking is as lowly as dirt."

"Inu-Inuyasha!" Kagome said in alarm, "Calm down." 'What can I do?'

"Keh! I dare you to repeat that, this time with the knowledge that you're speaking with the Prince of the Western Lands." The hanyou spat, tightening his hold around the hunter's neck painfully.

Bankotsu choked on his words, but managed to curse Inuyasha. Grabbing the hanyou's wrist with both hands, Bankotsu had managed to lessen the tension on his throat to croak out, "There's no way you're the brother of that damn _Sesshoumaru-sama_."

Inuyasha had growled and tossed Bankotsu to the side like a rag doll, his youki flaming even more with anger, "_How do you know about him!"_ He barked, his eyes solid red and blue, his fangs now extending bellowing his lips.

'Sesshoumaru-sama? Inuyasha has a brother? And he's a prince?' Kagome thought as she watched the argument press on.

Bankotsu cleared his throat and shot the furious demon a glare, "Besides the fact that he owns practically all of western Japan with his company you mean?" He snorted, "He's been giving my family trouble for generations, and now I can see why. He's been looking for the sword Tessaiga, and has ripped through my family to get it, but never found it."

"Tessaiga, the sword you were trapped in," Kagome voiced worriedly.

"Sesshou…maru…" Inuyasha grunted out, "Bastard… I'll kill him… and you!" He roared.

Bankotsu lifted himself up, and prepared for Inuyasha's attack until Kagome had so kindly stepped in between the boys, flickers of spiritual powers surrounding her. The hunter had never seen anything like it before, especially from a miko. Her powers encircled her as opposed to solely coming from within her. He had never heard of a miko being this spiritually powerful except for once, a long time ago.

"Kagome, don't! You'll get killed!" Bankotsu yelled.

Obviously she ignored him, "Inuyasha," Kagome began in a threatening voice.

At that moment, said half demon knew what was coming. His youki had died down, though his appearance hadn't changed. He was slightly fearful, but still really pissed off. "Don't."

She had actually contemplated it, "Don't force me, and I won't." She replied angrily.

He had to give her credit for knowing just how to tame his beast, but it didn't make him like it anymore, "K-keh," he tried to will himself to calm down, but that hunter was just there. He was right there, threatening his position and claims he had on Kagome. That lowly human hunter thought he could take what was his. So naturally, the only thoughts that circle non-stop in the half demons head were, 'Kill, kill… Kill him--!' Gradually his youki flared again with a dark chuckle.

Kagome sighed and walked up to him, ignoring his back steps as he tried to get away from her. She assumed it was because of her spiritual powers that he was avoiding her, but paid no mind to it. Instead she continued, "Inuyasha," She cooed gently, nearing him enough to place a hand on his cheek. "Inuyasha?"

He had leaned into her touch, his clawed hands twitching and aching to grab her. "Mate," He growled protectively.

"Kagome-san.." Bankotsu mumbled in amazement.

"Calm down, and come back, please," Kagome pleaded softly.

Inuyasha tugged her towards him, and embraced her gently. He nuzzled her neck while he took in her scent, soft growls rumbling through his chest in satisfaction. When he pulled away from her, he was blinking his golden orbs calmly and inquisitively, completely ignoring Bankotsu, "Ka-gome? The hell just happened?" A tinge of pink coated his cheeks. 'Did I just loose myself?'

She smiled warmly, "We'll talk later." She promised.

Somehow, he knew something was terribly wrong if his demon blood had been able to take over his body, even if it was just for a couple minutes.

This had bad news bears written all over it.

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**A/N Sorry for the late update! SOOOOOOO sorry! But here it is! I hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you think! R&R!! **


	10. November 24th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter! And thanks so much for the reviews! Honestly, you guys make my day! Free cookies for all! –throws arms full of cookies-**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 10. November 24**

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"So you mean to tell me that it's been with you this entire time?" Bankotsu half yelled the next day. They were currently outside eating lunch, him and Kagome with her stubborn shadow Inuyasha who of course brought along the four other dead kids too. They couldn't just leave them alone to wreak havoc over the place nor could they leave Inuyasha behind. So everybody had to come instead.

Sounds just peachy, right?

She drummed her fingers against the picnic table, eyes constantly bouncing back and forth from Inuyasha to Bankotsu, "That's right, it's been in my family for generations. Gramps used to tell me stories about it all the time."

Bankotsu was deep in thought, "The Tessaiga was said to be the sword that a mighty demon was sealed in. In my family, the legend that's been passed down is that the demon was sealed on the night of All Hallows Eve, when the moon was full. We were always told that we were the ones in charge of keeping the Tessaiga from being taken and wielded by evil youkai. But we never had it, as much as Sesshoumaru-sama searched, he couldn't find it with any of our family members."

"Ain't it obvious? Your ancestors probably made it known that you were the ones guarding my sword so that Kagome's family wouldn't be looked at twice," Inuyasha told them in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I suppose that makes sense," Bankotsu shrugged. "So if you were the demon that was sealed, then what the hell did you do to get that done?"

Inuyasha tensed up, "Keh!"

"On top of that, your brother has been looking for you for centuries. Why is it that he wants the Tessaiga so badly?" Bankotsu also questioned.

"I don't have to answer to some lowly hunter!"

"Inu_yasha_!" Kagome chastised.

The hanyou snorted, regarding Kagome with a clear I-hate-you look. 'Damn woman, I just don't get how controlling she is over me. I just can't do anything to displease her, at all!' He mentally whined, "The Tessaiga is a sword made from my old man's fang. It's real powerful and can kill a hundred soldiers in one sweep." Inuyasha answered quite coolly, "My older brother was always pissy about me inheriting it and has wanted it for gods know how long."

"Heh that's weird cause as far as I know with the demon sealed, aka you, inside of it, the Tessaiga was rendered useless to actually use," Bankotsu said, actually shocking Inuyasha for a moment.

'Then was my brother trying to find me? B-but why?' Inuyasha thought, hardly paying any attention to the squad of teens at that moment. The half demon prince knew that his brother loathed him from the moment he was born, and was repulsed by him even more when he earned his fathers sword. "It can't be. What you're implying can't be. Sesshoumaru would never give me the time of day. Besides all the times he's nearly killed me, he was there when I was sealed in my father's fang. Him and Kik—" His throat tightened at the thought of that woman.

Her pale face, and long inky hair. Those grey eyes, and that soft smile. She was the woman that had stolen his heart. And she was…

Inuyasha's face darkened, 'She was the one who betrayed me.' He hadn't noticed that he was growling or that his youki was beginning to over power until he felt his arm being squeezed. He had turned sharply, his elongated fangs hanging above his lower lip. He found that Kagome was concerned about him, 'It's like I know what she's thinking just by looking at her. Is this what its like to be near a… a mate?' If that was so, then it potentially meant that he had more feelings towards Kagome than that other woman. 'This is dangerous, it's enough that she looks like her, but for her to actually be destined for me? It couldn't be…'

'What's wrong with him? Why is he being so quiet?' Kagome thought worriedly, 'It's like he's having mixed feelings about something. And he's in pain, a lot of it.'

"Anyways!" Bankotsu cut in to lessen the tension, "What're you planning to do about them?" He gestured to the teenaged ghosts.

"Well, the plans was to find their killer," Kagome replied easily.

Bankotsu frowned, "No." He stated that almost immediately.

"W-what do you mean 'no'?" She began to argue.

He winced, "Look, when it comes to spirits, even fresh and clueless ones like these, there's only one thing to do. Exorcise them. Investigating their death isn't necessary in this case because we _know_ where their bodies are and mostly what happened. If we were dealing with a complicating old spirit, then fine. But not this. They can turn ferocious at any given moment, the best way to deal with this right now is to burn their bodies."

"They're not even buried yet, that's just cruel." Kagome hissed in a whisper as to not draw any attention to them.

"Maybe, but that's the game of survival. And that's how hunters are trained," Bankotsu said coldly.

"But they deserve justice, not to be violently put into the afterlife. They never did anything wrong," Kagome tried to reason.

"Besides getting that junior girl killed two weeks ago," Bankotsu added innocently. He had watched the miko gap at him and smirked, "I'm a hunter, so yes I did _some_ research."

She was beginning to regret agreeing to this little lunch date. What killed most was the fact that Inuyasha had warned her prior to this not to come to the meeting.

_"They are cold and heartless beings whose existence is solely to purge the world of monsters like us. Do you really think you want to get involved with something like that? They don't see eye to eye Kagome!"_

_"Trust me!"_

"B-Bankotsu-san y-you—"

"Hey Kagome-chan!" Sango piped, not noticing Miroku giving Kagome an apologetic look. They sat next to each other on the bench, "Are you asking _our_ Kagome-chan to the Winter Formal?" She asked Bankotsu with a sneaky smile.

'Ah, I forgot about that! And Inu…Yasha..' Kagome snuck a glance in his direction and shivered at the intensity of his glares on Bankotsu. 'Wonderful,' She thought dryly.

The hunter on the other hand seemed to think about it seriously, and grinned knowingly too. "You caught me, of course I was asking Kagome-san to the Formal. I just don't know the answer yet."

"W-well—"

"Of course she will!" The friend beamed, "Right Kagome-chan?" Even without knowing Inuyasha's presence was near, she still ended up feeling a shiver down her back for some unknown reason and had snuck a peek around the table. 'Strange, I feel like someone is glaring me down or something…' Sango thought, her eyes landing on Inuyasha's figure, though seeing nothing there. She shrugged in off and turned back to her friend, her bubbly mood back.

Kagome inwardly sighed, 'This is going to be a long day,' She looked up at the hanyou and shook her head, 'Scratch that, more like a long week at the very least.' Laughing lightly, Kagome had nodded her head, "Right yeah, of course I'll go with you Bankotsu-san… Ah but I have to go right now, I just forgot I have something to do!" She made a speedy getaway before any of her friends could follow. She knew Inuyasha wasn't following either since he was on babysitting duty with the four poltergeists.

'Now's a good time to check on this,' She thought, pulling out a sheet of paper with the suspects name on it. She knew that he was in school right now and figured she could pop in to visit and check him out. Though she miko knew that skipping right now shouldn't be considered an option and knew her mother would have a fit but… What other choice did she have? 'I'm really starting to regret waking up my crazy spiritual powers,' She thought as she made her way off school grounds to catch the next bus.

-X-

Who knew their sister school looked so… so much like their own? 'That's why it's called a sister school after all,' Kagome mentally gaped as she stared at East Shikon High. On top of being so similar, everything looked like it was perfectly carved out of gold or something! Not a single piece of grass out of place, everything perfectly coiffed.

Kagome felt like she was treading in Barbie and Ken Land.

With a shudder, she had shaken the thought away and entered the massive high school in search of the office. People were definitely still in school right now, which made things easier for her. One simple favour from the 'super nice' secretary had the boy announced on the PA and sent to the office in a matter of minutes.

It was as simple as that.

Now she just needed to think up the perfect excuse to talk to him.

"I was a friend of your s-sister!" Kagome blurted, kinda feeling bad about mentioning the girl to him. Except that she needed to gain his trust somehow, right? 'Think positive, think positive..!' She thought.

Noegi chuckled shyly, a soft coat of blush rising on his cheeks, "I-I n-never knew Mia-chan had such a pretty friend… And judging by your uniform, you go to our sister school!"

Jeez, has this guy ever interacted with women before? Not to make tech guys sounds like extreme geeks, but this guy had the signature cracked glasses and shyness that came with being the leader of the tech club. 'How can someone like this be a killer? It just doesn't make sense unless he isn't the one I'm looking for,' Kagome thought. "Right, yes. I've never come onto these school grounds before, I'm really surprised by how big everything is!"

"Th-this school was built to mirror yours but without all the mistakes. It's a little more high tech I suppose, more modern. An-and the principle is a bit of a neat freak and perfectionist," Noegi whispered the last part seeing as they were standing just outside the office.

"Let's go for a walk? Shall we?" Kagome said with a small smile, leading Noegi presumably out of the front doors of the school. Once they were outside, Kagome made sure to lead the way to the parking lot discreetly while chatting him up about his deceased sister. "I really am sorry about missing her funeral. I was out of town on a little vacation with my mother and brother."

For a head of the tech club, he was pretty nice on the eyes. Besides the thick framed glasses and his slight nasally tone of voice, he was weirdly handsome. He had medium length blue black hair that wasn't greasy looking in anyway, more like unruly. His eyes were a light grey and he had a nice pale tone to his face. Not pasty white, but leaning to a fair skin. 'Not really a computer screen tan, but on the way to one I guess,' Kagome mentally added.

"I-I n-never got your name?"

She mentally squeaked, 'Aw crap! I forgot to introduce myself! U-uh, uh…' "Didn't I? Gomen! My name is Higurashi Kagome, pleasure to meet you Noegi-san." Kagome stopped walking briefly to shake hands with him.

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm sure my sister has forgiven you for not coming to the funeral. You were after all out of town."

"That's right!" She gave another fake smile. 'Great, now that I have him outside, I need to find a way to get him to his car.' She thought as she continued her conversation with him. 'Think think think think think _think_…' She kept repeating in her mind, "Ah!" She suddenly piped, nervously licking her lips, "I-I almost forgot! I have to be at work soon!" She gasped almost in horror, but it seemed to convince the guy that she was genuinely worried about her 'job'.

"Do you need a lift to the bus stop? Or do you want me to drive you there?"

Hook, Line and Sinker! Man was she good!

…It started to actually worry her…

"A lift to the corner would be great! Or—" She turned and noted the bus driving down the street, one eye twitching slightly, "G-great.. I just missed it…" She looked dejectedly to the ground.

"It's okay, I can give you a lift!" Noegi chimed friendly-like.

"_Don't even think about hopping into a metal box with this baka, he's suspicious.." _

'Of course he just _had_ to come sometime during this exchange,' Kagome narrowed her eyes in anger on the hanyou ghost. She then looked over to Noegi and nodded, "That would be so great!"

The ghost growled in frustration, _"_Kagome, get away from him! I'm telling you he's—"

As they neared the car, Kagome had noted the small dent in the front on the right. 'Consistent with the push it could have caused on the other vehicle, and some purple paint. I wonder what type of car the group drove?' But there was no way this guy could actually be the killer, I mean clearly this guy had issues.. But homicidal ones? "Nice dent, whadja do to get that?" Kagome joked.

"Kagome.." She heard Inuyasha grunt warningly next to her.

"Funny thing, I fell asleep at the wheel while on the highway and clipped a traffic construction sign," The geek laughed nervously. "My parents were not impressed," He unlocked the doors and they got in, Inuyasha materializing in the back seat with ease. "So, where to?"

"The mall," Kagome easily answered, though she was actually quite nervous on the inside.

-X-

"It's him, it's gotta be."

"Obviously, so why the hell did you jump into a damn metal box with him if you knew that? One wrong move and he could have killed you Kagome," Inuyasha said later that day when Kagome had gone home. Miroku was on ghost watch right now while the hanyou took a nice break in Kagome's room, which by the way, the girl was grounded for skipping school. Looked like her well of lies dried up when it came to her mom.

She was in too much shock to respond to that. She was just lying on her back and staring up at her ceiling with Inuyasha sitting cross-legged on the floor against her bed. To think that she possibly could have been in a vehicle with a killer—no there was no doubt it had to be him. "What would the ghosts do if they knew it was him who killed them?" She quietly asked after a long silence.

"Keh! Kill _him_ of course, stupid."

She had gone silent again until Inuyasha had brought up an interesting question. He had quietly asked her about the previous night, when he turned full demon. Even now he could feel his demon blood stirring uneasily as the sun lowered in the sky to set. 'The full moon, why is it affecting me like this? I just don't…'

"You frightened me you know?" Kagome's whisper reached his delicate dog ears, causing them to twitch back in her direction. "I was worried that.. You'd hurt someone.. That you wouldn't recognize me at all. I was so worried for you, Inuyasha."

'Worried for _me_? Kik—She'd never worry about me…' Inuyasha shifted in his spot and stood, sitting on Kagome's bed instead and peered down at her. "Sorry I did that… wench," The corner of his lip moved to make a small smile.

Kagome had sat up and shaken her head, "It's okay, but… Does something like this happen often with half demons?" She asked seriously, desperately trying to keep her eyes on his and not on the fact that he was so close to her, and so… 'Again with the bad thoughts, come on Higurashi! This can't happen, you know it and so does he..'

_"Inuyasha?"_

_He had leaned into her touch, his clawed hands twitching and aching to grab her. "Mate," He growled protectively._

'Okay so maybe not, but… Oh my god am I actually thinking about starting a relationship with someone who isn't alive?' Kagome mentally yelled and screeched and tried her best to shake all thoughts of him out of her head. Something easier said than done when the troublemaker himself was just sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her so intensely.

"I only ever turned into a full demon once, while protecting a priestess from a youkai five centuries ago."

She froze instantly. 'A-a priestess? As in… d-did he, w-was h-he involved with someone before he…'

"I was turned back only when the Tessaiga was placed back into my hands by her. But that wasn't until after I'd killed the demon and his men. It was later that Myoga-jiji told me about my blood and how unstable it gets whenever I placed myself in mortal danger without my Tessaiga," He lowered his eyes to his clawed hands that were clenched into tight fists. "Now that I'm like this, I can't take hold of Tessaiga, and for some reason I think my blood is reacting with the lunar cycle."

Kagome blinked, 'The lunar—' She looked outside her window, taking note of the setting sun and the almost full moon hanging in the sky. "The Full Moon?" If that was it then maybe it was because of—"Inuyasha, please tell me how you were sealed in the sword. What do you remember?"

Despite the fact that he was getting closer to the girl, he still didn't like the mention of that fateful night. He hardly even liked thinking about it to begin with! That wretched woman and her stupid incantations… "Feh! Why would—" He felt his two silver locks of hair framing his face get tugged on by a growling Kagome, who then forced him to turn around and face her.

"Listen you dolt!" Her angry blue eyes turned icy, "As far as I know you were sealed on the night of all Hallows Eve on a _Full Moon_. Now is that right or wrong?"

He stared at her perfect creamy face, his eyes wandering over all her features until they landed back on her furious blue eyes. True, she looked a lot like that woman, all except the eyes. She had unmoving grey orbs where as Kagome had these lively blue ones that would change with her emotions. Not to mention the girls temper and her quick wit, she was far more fun to be with than the other woman. 'I should tell her about Kik… Kikyo.'

'What is he thinking? And why is he looking at me like that? What's with those eyes! He's not even focused anymore—'

"It was," She heard him say. "That night, the villages had prepared themselves for a night of living hell," She had gingerly let go of his fore locks and placed her hands in her lap.

"A barrier had been constructed, seals on all the homes, and every family placed in their homes before the sun had even set. The only people that were out on the streets by then were me and Kikyo, the priestess I told you.. about." He kept his gaze firm with hers but shifted his body so that he was closer. "As far as I remember, I was fighting off hordes of demons and their spirits along with the normal ghosts that would appear during that night. They had eventually broken through the barrier and begun an assault on our village.

"I fought off a lot of 'em without even damaging a single hut, and then everything went black." He lowered his head and grasped it with his clawed hands, "I don't remember anything after that except brief flashes. One of them being hit with an arrow—"

'The tree, the Goshinboku. He must have been pinned that night!' Kagome thought.

"—I barely recall it, but I was strong enough to pull out the arrow that had me sealed to the tree. Then everything was black again." He looked up at her, his face contorted in pain, "The scent of blood was all over my claws, my face, all of it human. The next time I woke up, I was somewhere different, another village. There was so much blood, and.. That bastard Sesshoumaru and Kikyo… I could just barely see the sun beginning to come up and that's when they sealed me together inside the Tessaiga."

Kagome brushed some stray locks away from his face, her warm fingers caressing his cool skin. Before she even realized it, she had him in a strong embrace and they were then both lying flat on her bed. He had his face buried in her neck while she ran her hands through his surprisingly very soft and knotless hair. She mentally told herself it must be a demon thing, and was mildly jealous about it. The thought was brushed off when she realized how relaxed she was feeling with him like this. 'Wow, to think that this cocky little prick actually has a soft side.' She thought. "You know, I bet the seal on you is still in motion," She suddenly blurted.

"What makes you say that?" She felt his lips move against the skin of her neck, causing her to shiver.

"I don't really know," Kagome mumbled softly.

_"Kagome!" _

She didn't even budge when her little brother had bursted into her room. Her hands still locked in Inuyasha's hair while he had his arms around her waist and nose in her neck. Though his golden eyes were looking rather annoyingly at the little boy for entering.

"What?" Kagome asked, raising a brow as he stared at her.

"It's time for dinner."

Even though he said this, he was still standing there and looking at her curiously. She then observed how his gaze fell on Inuyasha and half wondered if he could see him, 'Probably my imagination.'

"What're you lookin' at, runt?"

Souta swallowed loudly and jumped slightly, "Ah uh, K-Kago-m-me?"

'It _is_ just my imagination, isn't it?' Kagome mentally screeched in panic. She sat up quickly and looked at him with a raised brow, trying her best to mask her panic, "What?" She didn't feel her bed shift, but she did feel Inuyasha as he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head on her shoulder.

"Wench, I think the jig is up. That brat is looking right at me."

Souta jumped again, "Wo-wow! What are you?"

Kagome flinched, 'Great, now he can see the very thing I was hoping I could keep hidden from the general public.'

"Don't look so surprised Kagome. He is your brother, I bet his spiritual powers are being disrupted by yours since they're so strong. From what I can tell his are still pretty weak, but there's just enough to see me." Inuyasha informed her.

"H-hey! Quit talking like I'm not here!" Souta pouted.

_"Kagome! Souta!"_ They both heard their mother call.

"Listen, I'll explain later, okay?" Kagome said to Souta.

"After dinner?"

"Yeah, not around mom."

"Cool!"

"Souta, shh! We can't let anyone know about Inuyasha, okay?"

"R-right, Inuyasha? What a cool name!"

"Oh gods.." Kagome sighed as she watched her brother run out of her room. "Inuyasha, could you stay here? I don't know if my mom or gramps can see you yet—"

"Yeah yeah, just hurry up and come back," Inuyasha had grudgingly separated himself from Kagome and ushered her out. He had trained his eyes on her figure until she was completely out of sight before huffing and looking out the window. He suppressed a whimper when he felt a small jolt of pain and the burning of the purple stripes trying to place themselves on his face. 'It's starting to get painful now… and without her around, I can't keep my demon side from rising.' He found the glowing moon and starred at it, cursing the damn thing for what it was worth.

'I guess this means we really are meant for each other. Only a mate can calm a demon, and that's exactly what she does to me. So now the problem is that hunter… there's no way in hell he's getting near _my_ woman.'

"_Inuyasha!"_ Kikyo's scream rung in his ear.

He clutched his heart, still feeling the sting of the arrow that was suppose to seal him. She was trying to kill him after all he did to protect her, and keep her god forsaken village from being destroyed over and over again. At the time, he would have given his soul to the devil to make her happy, but now that he's met Kagome…

'My mate, and I'll be damned if I let some puny human hunter take her away from me!'

-X-

"Cool! A half demon! For real?" Souta stared at Inuyasha in pure amazement, "How long is Inuyasha onii-chan going to be around for?"

"Onii-chan?" Inuyasha repeated under his breath, 'Heh, this kid is actually fond of me? What a weird family..'

"Uh—"

"Let's put it this way kid, wherever she goes I go. She's just a ticking time bomb when it comes to drawing danger to herself. Somebody's gotta protect her," He said casually. Ever since the girl had come back from dinner, it was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders when her fresh scent wafted under his nose. He had calmed instantly and forced his blood to settle, especially in the presence of this runt.

"I am SO not that pathetic! I can protect myself just fine thank you!"

"Suure you can."

"Excuse me? Who was it that sent two crazy ghosts to hell?"

"And who was it that saved your ass in the first place from getting killed by said crazy ghosts?"

Souta sighed, almost regretting now having noticed the hanyou ghost that was now haunting his sister. 'Are they always like this?' He wanted to question aloud, but figured from their temper that yeah, this was definitely like them to argue hotly.

"Why you—SIT!" Kagome yelled.

The boy was pretty amazed by the ferocity shown in Kagome's eyes from sitting the hanyou to the ground, "Sis, whydja do that?"

"Shut up! He deserved it!"

Souta laughed weakly, 'I hate when she gets this mad!' "Well, I have uh, some homework to do! Cya!" Before he could suffer the wrath of his temperamental sister, he had scrambled out of the room, sending pity glances in the hanyou direction.

"Jesus woman! Mind laying off the sit commands for a bit? You're going to break my damn neck soon," He struggled to lift himself off the floor and shot a glare at the high school girl.

Kagome simply crossed her arms and snorted, "It'd just pop back into place anyways!"

"Keh! I'm going to go check on the monk and make sure he's okay," He now stood and dusted off his red haorie lightly.

Before she could respond to that she had watched him disappear in a shimmer, leaving her by herself in her room. She felt a little bad for sitting him now, but had quickly shrugged it off. Inuyasha couldn't possibly be that angry over it, right? Besides, this gave her time to read more of her book while he wasn't around. Which she did, until her eyes landed specifically on an enchantment page for that exorcism she had been talking about.

"Wait a sec, this says that it's only one possibility," She flipped the page and saw the second one and read it over. It was the section for necromancers, those who were powerful enough to control the dead and send them wherever the hell they wanted them to. Except that it mentioned how miko's as well could do the same if they were again, strong enough.

'To do this, simply focus your thoughts on the barrier that is separating the dead from the living, if you pull them forward too much they will enter their vessels and forever be in your service. However if you do the opposite, and push them away through the barrier you are successfully banishing them. Never use this technique unless forced, the results could be disastrous or even seen as cruel to the spirit whom you are forcing into the next world.' She mentally read. She scanned the page further down and saw a list of herbs that would be useful to banish spirits, 'Vervain, once dried and lit the scent can banish all spirits that are haunting a living being.'

She then looked over to the next page and narrowed her eyes, 'A devil's trap? What's that?' She thought while studying the strange pentagram symbol in the book.

"You know, this book keeps getting creepier and creepier. I wonder just how old it is?" Kagome mumbled aloud. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a tapping noise against her window. She had practically jumped on her bed and stuffed the book under her pillow quickly before Inuyasha could see it. Walking over to her window, she had slid it open and stared at Inuyasha, "Back so quickly?"

"Feh! Don't act like you missed me much, jeez.."

She placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow at him, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Miroku has them trapped in a circle of salt. They're pretty content in front of one of those Tea—vee things watching 'shows'. Right now they're harmless."

Kagome nodded, "Sorry you can't come in, I wish you weren't locked out of the house right now." She apologized.

"I wouldn't worry about that right now, specially since your damn hunter friend is standin' outside. He wants to talk to us, and bring us to this antique place."

"Really?" She looked over his shoulder, and true to his words, Bankotsu-san was standing a little further away in his trademark brown leather jacket and dark jeans, waiting. "Let's go then."

"Wait, he's got one of those metal box—"

"Cars. They are called _cars_ Inuyasha."

"Right well, his is ghost proof so I can't be in there—"

"What? No way—"

"—Would you let me finish woman? Gods, I can keep up with his car without a problem, it's you I'm worried about."

Her eye twitched, "We are not having this conversation again Inuyasha. I am not so helpless! I'll meet you downstairs—"

"Aren't you grounded?"

She stopped and thought for a moment, "I'll go tell Souta to cover for me and I'll sneak out through the window. You take me down, problem solved!" Before she could let him protest, she had turned and gone to her brother's room. Well, so much for a peaceful night. Just when she thought she could get some reading done. But anyways, maybe Bankotsu could give her some answers about Inuyasha's seal and the Tessaiga.

Better yet, maybe they could find a way to contact Sesshoumaru.

'He can't be all bad.' Kagome mused.

But she had yet to discover just how pompous the brother of this hanyou actually was.

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**A/N Whoa, I was really overwhelmed by all your reviews for the last chapter! Honestly, you guys make me excited when it comes to posting up the next chapter! SO THANK YOU, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. And for all those who're going to Anime North, I hope you have fun! I'm going too and I honestly cannot wait. I'm so giggly about it right now it isn't even funny. Haha, Anywho, R&R!**


	11. November 25th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N I updated super quick cause you guys were so good with your reviews! I hope you guys like t his chapter!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 11. November 25th**

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"Hi Kagome-chaaan!" Squealed a joyous voice.

The teenage girl hadn't been expecting it, but she had been mulled as soon as she walked into the antique shop that Miroku works at. The sign had clearly said it was closed up for the night but Bankotsu had dismissed it and walked in. Apparently he was one of the owners of the shop along with Jakotsu.

"Get offa her!" Inuyasha howled in protest, ready to pry the piping boy off her himself.

"Uh ah, hi Jakotsu-san!" Kagome giggled nervously. 'I've only met him once and he's already using familiar terms with me? Weird.'

Jakotsu had bobbed his head up and looked back and forth, "Ooooh, where did that yummy voice come from? Hu? Ne ne, Kagome-chan, is he handsome? What's his name?" He giggled, clapping his hands together in excitement while Bankotsu merely sighed loudly on the sidelines.

"My name is Inuyasha, now get away from Kagome!" He snarled, shooting his evilest glares on the buoyant boy.

Kagome tilted her head to the side slightly, "Jakotsu-san, can you see ghosts?"

"No, my brother can't see them, only hear them," Bankotsu answered, standing next to his brother. "Though he's pretty useful when it comes to all the Latin banishment incantations and circles."

'I knew this place smelled a little too potent for just one hunter.' Inuyasha thought to himself with a distrustful frown. 'And if this guy is right, then that means his flamboyant brother can exorcise me in a blink of an eye.'

"Oh Ban-Ban, you make me blush!" Jakotsu smiled brightly, "Now Gome-chan, do you mind if I call you that? How does this Inuyasha fellow look like? Come on! Give me the juicy details! And when I mean details, I mean _allll_ of them." He winked.

She flushed red instantly, 'Oh my freaking godly god. Is he referring to… t-to…!' She mentally squealed in mortification. "A-ah-a-uhmmm."

"Jak, he's Prince Inuyasha of the Western Lands. You've seen paintings, remember?" Bankotsu filled in.

"…" Jakotsu was quiet for a moment, then suddenly his eyes had brightened and hearts had formed all around him, "_The_ Inuyasha? Oh it's our lucky day! Oh joyous day! You have such adorable ears! I just want to pet them all day long! Gome-chan you're so lucky you can see him and touch him!" He bounced up and down like a dramatic schoolgirl.

The hanyou had scrunched up his face and hid behind Kagome timidly, "Wench, keep this creep away from me." He grunted, jumping slightly when Jakotsu had turned and practically looked straight at him.

"I have expert hearing you know! You can't hide from me Inu-_chan_!" He sighed lovingly, hearts forming in his eyes as well as sparkles.

"Jak, wouldja settle down? We've got stuff to talk about," Bankotsu groaned slightly, tugging his brother away from Kagome and his 'dream guy'.

Kagome ignored Jakotsu's wailing and sweat dropped at his dramatic behaviour. Who knew this shop owner could be so emotional? He was even more expressive than any girl she could think of. 'Well, except Eri when she's got her time of the month, she gets a little out of hand sometimes. She could begin a world war three if she put her mind to it.' She mentally laughed, following the boys to the back of the shop.

Once there, they had opened a door that led down to the basement, something Kagome didn't think this place had. She was never fond of basements, and had even grabbed for Inuyasha's hand to give her some peace of mind as they went down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, a switch was flicked on and they were suddenly in a lovely furnished room complete with a television and a kitchen. Over to the side was a washroom and a few other doors, one of them completely made out of what looked like iron.

"Welcome to our home," Jakotsu sang, marching over to the iron door and tugging it open without even the slightest struggle.

Another hunter gene, Kagome assumed, was apparently a little bit of extra strength on top of extreme tolerance for pain. 'And Sango could potentially be like these guys? Miroku would get slaughtered if her blood was active.' She had felt her hand being squeezed and had turned to look at Inuyasha questioningly. Apparently he was worried about her and didn't want her to go past the iron doors.

"That room is entirely made of iron and salt. I can't go through there."

Bankotsu had rolled his eyes at the whining puppy and raised a brow, "You know, here I thought you knew everything about the supernatural. But I guess there are still some things that hunters naturally know more about than demons."

The dog demon twitched his ears and let out a threatening growl, "There weren't any rooms like this built in my damn time you jackass! So lay off!"

"Ban-Ban!" Jakotsu chided, "Be nice, he is our guest and obviously isn't all bad. Plus he's a priiiiiince!" He sighed dreamily for a moment before coughing, "Anyways! Gome-chan, just keep a firm hold on him. If Ban-Ban is right about your powers, you should be able to focus them into a barrier and drag him into this place without much of an issue." He said nonchalantly before jumping into the room, followed by a glowering Bankotsu.

'Focus my spiritual energy? Ha! I can hardly do that to begin with! But a barrier? Who do they think I am? Some freaking priestess from the Sengoku Jidai?' She turned to Inuyasha and smiled weakly, 'And if I make a mistake, I could accidentally purify him.' "Well, d-do you want me to uh… try?" She asked, clearly having no faith in her own abilities.

He could sense her discomfort from a mile away but absolutely refused to let her enter a place where he wouldn't be able to protect her from hunters. It was enough he had to run outside the damn _car_ that was ghost proof, but this? No way in hell, even if he had to risk getting his fine piece of ass slightly charred, he'd do for her. "Just focus Kagome, and listen to my voice okay? Close your eyes and try to feel for your powers." He began to speak, grabbing both of her hands firmly while whispering the commands.

"Once you have a good grip on them, try to push them down through your arms to your hands, but not too hard or—" He yelped, sparks having been emitted in protest against his demonic hands and successfully burning them. He had leapt away from the girl almost instantly to blow on his smoking hands, waving them around as well to help cool them, "I told you not to push too hard woman! What the hell?" He bellowed.

Kagome had snapped open her eyes as soon as she felt him leave her and had narrowed them when he yelled, "Oh would you stop being such a baby? That was hardly anything! So get your stupid hanyou butt back here so I can try again!"

"What so you can burn that too?"

"You block head! Don't make me say it!"

"Argh! Fine, damn wench," He muttered the last part and grudgingly had given his hands over to her and watched her close her eyes to concentrate again, "Once you start pushing your powers through your hands try to surround me with them to create a bond. But you have to keep a steady amount this entire time until I'm completely covered, then you can slowly increase the strength to finally create a barrier around the two of us." He had flattened his ears and closed his eyes, knowing that the pain was going to come again very soon, except this time it didn't. Instead he felt a cool rush of embracing power course through him. Even his demon blood that had been gradually surfacing had settled down to a simmer. When he opened his eyes, he could see his body glowing faintly brighter with a pinkish aura.

"Am I doing this right?" Kagome whispered, trying her best to keep back most of her powers. She had never known until she found her inner source how powerful her abilities were. She knew that Inuyasha kept telling her how strong she was, but she honestly never believed him. And right now, she found it quite difficult only to use the smallest portion possible to create a connection with Inuyasha. 'It's so hard to just focus like this, it's too much.'

"Yeah, you have me completely covered Kagome. Now increase the bond at a steady pace," He answered, inwardly whimpering as he watched her struggle with her abilities. Her face was twisted in concentration, sweat forming on her forehead as proof of her effort. Suddenly, he felt a bran new feeling wash over him, and he heard Kagome gasp as her eyes shot open. He could feel every portion of his body react with an alarming jolt as Kagome accidentally let her spiritual powers slip. As a result, a tremendously thick and crackling barrier had formed around the two of them, something the hanyou had never seen before. 'Even Kikyo's barriers weren't a thing like this!' He thought.

"In-Inuyasha, are you okay? I let go by accident and—"

"Calm now woman, clearly I'm still standing. Though if we don't hurry and get into that damn iron chamber soon I think you may purify my demon side." He spoke a little jokingly, but he could see that Kagome had clearly taken it seriously and had pulled him along with her so that they could get into the room. He even noticed Bankotsu staring at him and Kagome very surprisingly as well as the weird Jakotsu guy.

"Oh my, that's very impressive Gome-chan!" Jakotsu fluttered his eyes at Inuyasha and sent him a wink, "Your barrier is so strong that it has completely blocked out the supernatural frequency that make spirits so difficult to be seen. Now even I can see him," He grinned, liking his lips.

"Aw god damn-!" Inuyasha let go of the girls hands instantly, "Get rid of it! Take the damn barrier away! Now! Do it!"

The girl had stared down at her hands and up at him, and thought that the connection should have been gone, but oddly enough she could still feel her powers enveloping the hanyou. "Uhm, h-how?"

Inuyasha screeched, something that he never thought he would ever do, and had hid behind Kagome as Jakotsu approached the crackling barrier, "Settle down your powers and let them dissipate. Oh god woman! _Hurry_ up!"

Jakotsu had poked at the barrier, smiling evilly when it didn't reject him, "Here I come cutie!"

Honestly, this was a site to see. The miko had never thought she'd ever find a good weakness against Inuyasha and yet here it was. The key to everything. Besides the sit command now she had Jakotsu who could help her gain a little more leverage whenever she argued with the hanyou. 'Oh I am so evil,' Kagome mentally cackled, but then decided for now she should at least be nice and let the hanyou off the hook. So with a deep breath she had found her source of power within her and just settle them down.

Once the barrier was down, Inuyasha had disappeared from Jakotsu's eyes, which brought some dramatic tears, "Awe, how could you be so mean to me!"

"Jak!" Bankotsu had shouted, bringing his brother back to the real world, "Cut the antics."

"Right right, sorry," Jakotsu waved off, walking towards a bookshelf.

Kagome had finally been able to take in the room and make note of everything inside. There was a bookshelf, a desk and lamp, a bed and some chairs. Nothing special really, and of course the floor was completely cemented and had a drawn symbol of sorts on it. Looking up she also made note of the fan and ventilation system that had a grate over it and a metal pentagram as well on top of it. 'Wait the symbols in this room,' She looked around and down at the floor again, she was standing in the centre of the main symbol painted on the floor, 'This looks like a devil's trap.' She thought.

"That's a devil's trap," Bankotsu had confirmed for her. "It's purpose it to trap demons. There's no way for them to escape unless the circle is broken. In other words…"

"Out of all the places to let the stupid barrier drop, you had to do it here?" Inuyasha accused.

Kagome's eye twitched and she turned to the complaining half demon, "Excuse me? Who told me to drop it? Oh yeah, that'd be you. Gods you can be so unbearable sometimes! Just live with it! At least we made it in here, so stop complaining already!"

Bankotsu had sighed at them both, "Jeez, you guys seem to fight a lot—"

"Stay out of it!" Inuyasha and Kagome yelled in unison.

'Damn, now I know how that monk feels,' Bankotsu thought. "Well, since Inuyasha clearly doesn't trust us with you Kagome, you can stay with him and we'll bring the books over." He told the arguing couple, motioning for Jakotsu to bring over said books. Eventually the two had stopped arguing and Bankotsu had spread out the books in front of them on the floor and sat down cross-legged.

"The reason we brought you here was to tell you that we need to leave town for a while. Jak and I caught wind of some nasty spirits in the next town over and there have been some demon sightings," Bankotsu began.

"Demons? Like Inuyasha?" Kagome asked curiously.

"No honey, believe us when we say there aren't very many demons left in this world that are like Inuyasha. Not that we know of. Only Sesshy-chan has all the documents of the remaining demons. The others are ones that have clawed their way somehow out of hell and are beyond monstrous. They tend to cause havoc and kill innocent people in a blink of an eye. They also like to possess humans, which is why you need to know how to sight one." Jakotsu explained, the boy actually being serious for once.

"Well that's great, this sounds a lot like what happened five centuries ago to the village. Demons right left and centre were possessing humans and destroying homes," Inuyasha frowned, clenching his fists.

"Tonight you're here for a small lesson on demon possession. You should try to memorize the devil's trap so you can draw one at any given moment, also you can exorcise it with a Latin incantation," Bankotsu continued.

However Jakotsu had eyed Kagome, a secretive smile spreading across his lips, "Or, like a necromancer, you can send the demons back to hell with a single thought. Since the ones that claw their way out of hell don't have any physical bodies, they are much like spirits and can thus be either summoned or pushed away."

'He's referring to the book, the one he's given me,' Kagome thought, looking back at Inuyasha briefly.

"A necromancer? What does this have to do with anything?" The hanyou narrowed his golden eyes on Jakotsu, feeling like he was missing something crucial. 'What's with this guy? And why is he looking at Kagome like that? Is there something I don't know?'

"In any case!" Bankotsu coughed, "Take this book," He pushed a thick novel that looked fairly old to Kagome and was leather bound. "It has the Latin exorcism spell in it, as well as drawings for the devils trap and other anti-demon symbols for protection. You might learn a few things about spirits too. And as far as the recent ghosts, I suggest you get rid of them soon, other wise they may start to cause some trouble."

"They're already trouble," Muttered Inuyasha with a growl.

Jakotsu smiled, "I'm sure you can handle them Kagome-chan, but please be careful. They do tend to become very impatient and powerful. Even though you're trying to help them, believe us when we say that the best way to help is to send them on they're way."

"The other thing we wanted to tell you about was Sesshoumaru-sama," Bankotsu added, shooting glares at Inuyasha. "He's got a new branch here of his company that he's visiting for the next week. He's conducting an inspection with his assistant Rin beginning tomorrow. If you want to contact him, then I suggest you do it while he's in town. Unless you want to travel to western Japan to speak with him."

Kagome had brightened, "Great! That sounds perfect for us!" She looked over at Inuyasha again and squeaked, noticing the dark cloud hanging over him, "Uh…"

He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking of various ways of haunting his brother and causing all kinds of trouble for him while he was in town. Maybe even accidentally blow up his company, or maybe crack his skull open with a blunt object—"That bastard is goin down…" He lifted his head up and chuckled evilly, "I'll tear him to pieces, and he won't be able to do a damn thing to sto—"

"Sit!"

"Acck!" His necklace pulled him down in an uncomfortable position.

"You don't treat a brother like that! I'll be damned if I let you hurt your brother even if he did seal you away!" Kagome scolded, ignoring Bankotsu's chuckles of amusement and satisfaction from seeing the hanyou face plant.

Soon everyone had said their goodbyes, and Kagome had constructed another barrier to get Inuyasha out of the iron and salted room. When they got back home, Inuyasha was in a very foul mood and it was a little late in the night. Luckily no one had noticed Kagome gone and she had found her mother sleeping in her room already. So far so good. And now Kagome was in her room and digesting the information that had been given to her. The thought had also crossed her mind of letting Inuyasha into her room in the same manor as before with the barrier. It was quickly banished though when she figured it would be best for him to remain the night at Miroku's watching over the ghosts.

Which was where he was right now anyways, so it was best not to think of him. 'But I can't help it, I really want Inuyasha to keep me company, and to 'sleep' if that's what he does, next to my bed.' She thought, turning out her light after having changed into her pajamas for bed. She set her alarm on and sat on her bed, chewing on her bottom lip. To think that she was actually really enjoying the hanyou's company, and even craving it!

Standing up, Kagome had walked over to her window and opened the curtains, taking a good look at the moon. It was going to be completely full tomorrow night, a notion that worried Kagome. She didn't know what would happen, if Inuyasha would be able to control his blood or if she'd be forced to construct a circle of salt or even a devils trap to keep him from causing anyone any harm. 'Inuyasha, I wish I knew why this was happening to you. I know we've made the connection about your seal, but I just don't get how any of this is still affecting you. I thought I broke your seal from the sword, so doesn't that mean anything? Why aren't you free of all this turmoil?'

'Maybe Sesshoumaru can tell me a little more about the Tessaiga, and the spell he witnessed Kikyo casting on Inuyasha. _Inuyasha_…' She mentally sighed, deciding to finally turn in for the night. Placing her head on her pillow, she had almost fallen asleep when she remembered placing that book earlier under her pillow to hide it from Inuyasha. Lifting her head with a groan, she had pulled the book out and stuffed it under her mattress before finally going to sleep.

Unknown to her however, she had been watched this entire time by amber eyes. With a small rumble, the youkai had turned away from the window and dispersed.

-X-

She had woken up to rumble slowly forming into a snarl. Oh and her alarm clock being once again hurled across her damn room.

Really.

I mean _really_?

They had gone through this once before, actually twice isn't it?

Her alarm clock was in pieces on the floor and a new dent in her wall was created. She absolutely did not need to deal with this shit today, because today was suppose to be a good day to team attack Sesshoumaru. But nooo, instead Inuyasha had to magically poof into her room at the crack of stupid, growl at her like a vicious mongrel and break her alarm clock. _Again_. 'What is his deal?' Kagome mentally shrieked, sitting up in her bed to shoot her darkest glares at the youkai, "What was that for? What is your problem!"

"My problem?" Inuyasha shot back, his stripes having already formed on his cheeks, "What's _your_ problem!"

Rolling her eyes she had crossed her arms, "I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know you are about to get your sorry ass sat all the way to hell for breaking my clock again!"

Inuyasha had backed away from her bed, crouched down and waved one of his clawed hands. Instantly, a book had dug its way out of Kagome's bed and landed in front of Inuyasha who eyed her in a distrusting manner, "You've been hiding this from me."

Kagome looked at it and blinked, 'How did he know about that?'

"To answer your question, you called me last night, so I came. I came in time to find you putting this book away under your bed!" He yelled, forcing the book to flip open, the pages flying by, "This book is where you got my beads of subjugation, isn't it? You've probably used it for other things too, haven't you!"

She gaped at him, "If you think I've been using this book, then you're wrong! Sure I used that one spell for your necklace, but I haven't used anything else! I've just been referring to it and learning from it. I swear Inuyasha, I was going to eventually tell you, but I just didn't know how—"

"The shit in this is _bad_ Kagome! Even Kikyo didn't use it, she sealed it for a goddamn reason!" He roared.

Kagome had gasped in surprise, 'Kikyo? Does this mean that it's actually that old?' "Wait, so if Kikyo put the seal on it… Do you know who wrote it?"

His temper had calmed a little, but he was still livid enough to growl, "Priestess Midoriko had made this book during my father's rule to first make note of Miko's and Necromancers. In the end it turned out to be a gathering of incantations dark and light as well as the trade secrets of both the Miko and Necromancer. We found this book five hundred years ago in the hands of a powerful witch who nearly destroyed half of Japan with some of the spells in here."

She had no idea this thing was that powerful, not even the slightest. Sure, there were some creepy things inside, but nothing that could end the world. "So if that book is so dangerous, why didn't you destroy it?"

"Believe me when I say Kikyo tried. But she wasn't powerful enough to do it, so she sealed it instead and hid it away."

Kagome let this new information sink in for about two seconds before she got up and took the book back, "For now, I'm going to study it. There's some useful stuff in here that isn't so bad. And I might be able to use it for good, not evil." She ignored the protesting half demon and she stuffed it back under her mattress before turning dangerously. "As for my clock…"

He definitely had no right to be as ferocious as he was right now. And especially to her clock, so…

Screams and shouts of pure horror echoed in the house, though only a select few could hear the wailing, such as a sighing Souta all the way down in the kitchen.

-X-

"Wow, this place is huge!" Kagome gasped, looking up at the tall building in the centre of Tokyo and back down to the sheet of paper in her fingers, "It's definitely the place, Taisho Corp." She entered the building with a scowling Inuyasha right behind her, and walked up to the desk. She was on her lunch break and hoped to kami that she'd get back to school on time, other wise she'd be grounded even more. 'Not that that's stopping me from going out,' She thought mischievously.

She greeted the secretary with a warm smile, though despite that he hardly spared her a look and soon went back to taking phone calls. She frowned at him and looked around the desk for a nameplate of sorts but couldn't find any. Huffing she cleared her throat, though the man didn't get it and kept forming appointment after appointment until Kagome had all too kindly taken the phone away and hung it up. "Where can I find Sesshoumaru?"

The secretary gaped at the girl and narrowed his eyes, "Th-that's Sesshoumaru-sama to you, girl! And I won't tell you where he is because he doesn't need to speak with the likes of you."

"Jaken? You have got to be kidding me, this toad is still alive?" Inuyasha said in amazement, though the man couldn't hear him. "He's got a charm on to hide his demonic little green toad form."

Kagome raised a brow at Inuyasha and then returned her gaze at the secretary, "Jaken is it? I'll have you know that I have important things to talk to Sesshoumaru about."

"That's Sesshoumaru-sama and—" The secretary blinked, "H-how did you know my name?"

Kagome grinned, "Because Inuyasha just told me, so now if you don't mind—"

"In-Inuyasha?" Jaken blinked, then burst out laughing, "Ahahahahaha! Wahahahaha! That lowly _half breed_ was sealed five centuries ago! Ahahahaha!" He laughed till tears came out of his eyes.

Deciding that he was getting her nowhere, she had gone ahead and walked towards the elevator. Though she heard Jaken shouting not to go any further, she ignored him and pushed the button to go up, assuming that up was the place to be for an owner. She only turned when she heard Jaken yell something about guards, but it was too late for them because the elevator had arrived, and she was in it in seconds and pushing the last floor button.

Next to her was Inuyasha, and he wasn't impressed with this elevator machine. "What's going on? What is this thing?"

"It's an elevator. It's going to take us up the building to the last floor." Kagome answered, watching the numbers go by. "When we get up top, I'm thinking there's guards. Any way you can take care of them?"

The hanyou snorted, "I can shove them out of the way with some minor telekinetic thing and create some demonic winds."

She shrugged, "That should be good enough." The elevator had finally stopped, and the doors had opened up. Yet to her surprise there were no guards. When they stepped out there was only one set of doors that looked fairly fancy, and Kagome figured them to be the correct ones. So she pushed one open and looked inside. The room was huge and extravagant, old paintings hung on the walls and couches and chairs sitting in front of an enormous desk. She could see at the very end of the room a person sitting at the desk that was busily typing away at a laptop and signing papers.

"Is that him Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, pointing to the man at the desk.

Inuyasha answered with a grunt, "Get in, and stay near me."

Kagome nodded meekly and walked in, closing the door behind herself and shyly walking across the room until she was up in front of the one she assumed to be Sesshoumaru. He had silver long hair pulled back in a braid, and dark purple eyes and tanned skin. He was real handsome, but she failed to see any resemblance besides the hair colour, "Uhm, excuse me?"

"You don't have an appointment girl, nor do I have any interest in speaking with you."

Never mind, she totally saw the resemblance now.

"Jeez, Inuyasha why didn't you tell me your brother was such a prick?" Kagome turned to the growling hanyou angrily, "A little warning would have been nice!"

"He sealed me away, what more information do you need?"

"I don't know, anything really. And why doesn't he look like you? He looks pretty human to me, shouldn't he have dog ears too or something?" Kagome asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"He's got a charm on genius, like Jaken."

"Oh, I see. I should really learn how to spot these charms. And don't you mock me buddy!"

Sesshoumaru looked up from a paper he was holding and stared at the girl for a moment, debating throwing her out. Either this girl was crazy or she was actually speaking with Inuyasha. He did always tend to bring out the worst in people, but in any case… "Girl, I have no interest in listening to you argue with thin air. Leave."

Kagome turned briskly to him, "I have the Tessaiga. That good enough information to earn five minutes of your oh so precious time?"

The demon hadn't shown it, but he was fairly surprised by this girl's temper and her knowledge over the sword he had been searching for over the years. "The Tessaiga you say?" He narrowed his eyes on her, "Tell me, are you a descendant of the priestess Kikyo? The resemblance is astounding."

'I look like K-Kikyo?' She crossed her arms, "I don't know, all I know is that I have Inuyasha's sword, and I also might have broken the seal." She pointed to Inuyasha, "He's standing right here."

Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, "Kagome, this shit for brains isn't going to listen to us."

"I find that highly doubtful, now if you please, I have a lot of work to do." He sighed, looking back down at the page he held.

Inuyasha grunted, "Kagome stand behind me."

"Wha-? Why?" Kagome looked over at him and gasped. It looked like he was purposefully increasing his demonic aura to turn full demon. And since the full moon was happening tonight he didn't have much of a problem increasing his youki.

Unexplainable winds inside the office was causing stray papers to fly about, and if that wasn't enough, Inuyasha had approached Sesshoumaru desk with glowing claws and ripped through the wood with an iron reaver attack. He had shred through documents and made the desk collapse, allowing the laptop to slide down and get its screen cracked. Looking up he had glared red-eyed at Sesshoumaru, ready to slash again when his brother had finally spoken.

"Enough," Sesshoumaru hissed darkly. "If you destroy one more thing you mongrel I will personally see to it that your spirit is forced into the after life."

Kagome had smiled triumphantly, though it soon dropped when Inuyasha did not look like he was going to stop. 'Oh crap, he can't change back!' She mentally panicked, watching the demonic winds whip his hair around him easily. What was most frightening was the look on his face. Just like the other night, it was purely sadistic, and she couldn't stand it.

"I-Inuyasha! S-Stop!" She cried, holding out her hand to him, "Onegai, Inuyasha." She whispered, observing how his ears twitched in her general direction as she stepped closer to him. Even if he did tell her to stay away, she wouldn't because clearly he needed her to ground him. And when his red-blue eyes had turned to her, he had stood up straighter and ceased his growling. The winds around him dying down into a subtle breeze while his once flattened ears had perked.

Sesshoumaru had only moved slightly, but it was enough to make the hanyou turned youkai crouch somewhat again and growl warningly, the winds picking up again. However Kagome had motioned for the older brother to stay still while she ushered Inuyasha over, "Calm down Inuyasha." She smiled and took another step closer as he turned away from Sesshoumaru to near her instead.

"K'gome," He muttered, standing protectively in front of her. He gently brushed one of his clawed fingers against her cheek before leaning his forehead against hers. He inhaled deeply and managed to transform himself back into his usual hanyou self, using her scent to calm his youkai blood to just a bubbling temperature. His dark purple stripes were still very visible, but other then that, he was fine.

"Hn? So you've calmed him," Sesshoumaru raised a brow at her odd behaviour. "He had no need to use a demonstration, it was enough that I could sense his youki."

"Damn cocky bastard," Inuyasha cursed, leaning away from Kagome to flip him off. Even if his brother couldn't see it, he still felt better doing it.

"So you believe me?" The young miko asked as she pulled Inuyasha's arm down and gave him a small disapproving look. She had then laced her fingers in his and shook her head at Inuyasha before looking back at Sesshoumaru.

The demon had eyed the girl's hand and looked back up at her, "I would know his filthy youki, it was the same youki his body reeked of before I tamed him and assisted the miko who sealed him. However if you had indeed broken the seal I'd imagine that he would be completely revived, not only his spirit."

"Wait, what?" Kagome asked. 'Is he being serious? Did I _miss_ something?'

Sesshoumaru stared blankly at Kagome, "My idiot half brother had his entire body and spirit sealed into the Tessaiga due to the fact that he had gone on a murderous rampage the night of All Hallows Eve five centuries ago."

"Then that means the spell to release him that I used was incomplete. I only released half of him."

"Correct, if he had been completely released this city would have been annihilated that very night," Sesshoumaru explained.

"I don't get it," Kagome frowned, feeling Inuyasha tighten his grip on her hand.

"Listen carefully girl, because I will only say this once. If my brother were completely released he would continue to slaughter humans and demons alike without a second thought just as he did five centuries ago," Sesshoumaru said evenly, regarding Kagome with his ever steady stare. "The reason for this is because the demon soul that possessed him at the time is still trapped within my half brother's body _inside_ the Tessaiga."

Great, so her hanyou wasn't at all dead to begin with. In fact his sexy piece of ass could be brought back into this world. Too bad that meant the end of said world if it were to be done. Again, why did she have to be a curious baka and unleash this stupid and undeniably hotter then hell half demon spirit from a sword? Oh yeah, 'cause she's a silly high school girl who was hoping to find some truth in her grandfathers stories. Because she felt bad for the hanyou each time the story was told to her. Because…

'Oh my lanta, I think I'm falling in love with this blockhead.'

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**A/N Ooooh, a new chapter! And again, yes I watch supernatural (did anyone see the season finale? Go Castiel with his super angel powers!) and another yes I did read the mediator series by meg cabot. But I wonder who will be able to guess the final ingredient in this wonderful mix of a story? I guess I'll eventually see if anyone gets its, hint hint its another book series. Anywho, R&R!**


	12. November 26th

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the wait! Here's a super long chapter! Oh and BIG MESSAGE! I would be very pleased of all of you read this….**

**To zia9583 who wrote: I swear to fucking god. You're good, but you're facts ain't straight. Kagome's eyes are BROWN! Not blue. You're really freaking good at writing, but I'm tired of you saying that her eyes are Blue. THEY'RE BROWN. Plain and simple.**

**Here is my reply. Just so you know, I am not the only writer out there for Inuyasha fanfiction who has written Kagome's eyes to be blue. Nope, in fact you can find hundreds of stories like that. Why did _I_ do it? Because in the manga I own, I based Kagome's eyes off of it. They are a blue-grey and so I adjusted them be more like a crystal blue because I preferred it that way and because I wanted to make the story a little different from all my previous ones where I've written them as brown. Not everything is based off the damn anime, I know my facts and this anime is one of my absolute favorites to the point where I painted a goddamn mural in my bedroom when I was in highschool because I adored it so much. As the writer of this FANFICT I can do whatever the _hell_ I want, and if you dislike that so much then please go read elsewhere. Otherwise, fuck off.**

**If anyone else had issues with me writing Kagome as having blue eyes you can either keep reading just for the story or you can stop and move on to another. Telling me that one of her features is wrong will not have me change my fan-based story.**

**Now then, here's the chapter…**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 12. November 26th**

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_Snap!_

Her eye twitched in mad annoyance.

Grudgingly she had pushed the end of her mechanical pencil with a few clicks to have more led to continue writing her notes. That had been the fifth time she had snapped her led so easily within the first ten minutes of her class. She had made it back just in time and was pretty proud of herself for being better at time management. Now she didn't have to deal with an angry mother. Or any more grounding for that matter.

'Still, that doesn't stop me from being as angry as I am. Even Inuyasha is struggling to keep his cool,' She managed to sneak a look to him then back down to her notes.

-X-

"_He was possessed?" _

"_Very much so," Sesshoumaru's unwavering eyes confirmed. _

"_And what happened after Inuyasha's sealing?" Kagome further questioned._

_"The Tessaiga was first entrusted to the miko Kikyo to be protected. After her demise I returned to take the Tessaiga myself when it disappeared. The woman had given it to another family to be protected, a family of hunters was what I was led to believe. However no matter how much I searched I could not locate it, and the fang was lost," Sesshoumaru crossed his arms and closed his eyes. _

"_So… you were looking for it to protect Inuyasha?"_

_"Correction, to protect this world from that mongrel." _

_Kagome was taken back by his unbelievably stern tone and frowned slightly, "You have no intentions of ever freeing your brother, do you." _

"_Not the slightest."_

"_What? You piece of shit son of a bitch! You plan an letting me rot in that rusty thing for eternity?" Inuyasha roared in protest, faint redness returning to his eyes. _

"_How could you do that to your own brother?" Kagome shrieked as well, "You're such a pig! I can't believe you!" How could someone be so cold? He was family and yet still perfectly content with keeping his own blood and flesh sealed inside a sword forever. The nerve of this prick! _

"_If you did not hear beforehand, I do recall telling you the consequences of setting my brother free of his restraints. There is nothing in this world that can help him now with this unfortunate curse." _

_Kagome shook her head stubbornly and held Inuyasha's hand tightly in an attempt to calm him and herself. She really did not want this to be a crappy day. In fact she had been trying her hardest to stay positive and hope to come out of this day alive and happy with nice news on how to set her hanyou free and reunite him with his brother. Instead she had to deal with this very dull but equally infuriating jerk who repeatedly insisted on shooting down her ideas of setting Inuyasha free for good. Without even knowing it, she had been letting her emotions go just as wild as Inuyasha's, her body glowing lightly with untamed powers. _

_The full demon could not believe the struggle he was currently observing. The girl in front of him was over flowing with abilities hardly comparable to those he witnessed five centuries ago. And next to her he could feel the raw and filthy youki his half brother was emitting due to his own confessions of his desire to let him remain as he was. 'Interesting...' _

"…_You're wrong…" He heard the girl whisper. _

"_Hn?"_

"_In case you didn't hear, oh great dog demon," Kagome spat sarcastically, her crystal blue eyes connecting fiercely with the full youkai's, "You're wrong. I am the one thing in this world that can and will save Inuyasha, you just sit back and watch me." She hissed, tugging Inuyasha away with her. They were moving towards the large doors to exit when Jaken had finally entered with some human looking guards. Inuyasha had later informed her that they too had charms and were full demons. Of course Sesshoumaru had brushed them off and told them that they weren't needed since his guests were just on their way out, leaving Jaken to simply gap as they walked out. _

-X-

_Snap!_

…Why! 'Why can't led just be stronger? Why is it being just… just _stupid_! Gods Higurashi you are losing it. Absolutely, positively, losing your marbles right now. Just settle down.' Kagome mentally cooed as she pushed her pencil for more led. No sooner had her led returned was when a wonderful note from you-know-who had popped onto her desk. Yes, her ever-observant best friend had finally made her move to ask Kagome why she was consistently breaking her pencil led.

"I think you're actually annoying some students," Sango had written in her note, "What's wrong? You look a little tense."

That was an understatement.

Looking back at Inuyasha, Kagome had huffed and given him a long stare. If anything he was the one who was tense and stressed. So many things were new and confusing for him. 'Poor guy,' Kagome thought as she looked back down at the sheet of paper she had received from Sango. She had written back, "Just stressed with school and tests. No big." She had passed the note back only to get a raised eyed brow from the girl.

Yeah, she was _so_ not biting this.

"Uh huh, sure Kagome. You need to either lie better or just be straight up with me. Or maybe I should call the girls up and we should have an intervention or something." Sango wrote back.

'Cause a session with Yuka, Eri and Ayumi would be great right now. Not. 'I need an excuse.' Kagome thought, "I'm really having a crap day and broke my clock again. I need a new poster to cover the new dent and these classes are driving me crazy! I'm afraid of falling behind and ultimately failing everything. What do I do?" Well, it was mostly the truth, she just edited out the supernatural business. She was worried about school since her life recently took a turn for the worst and was now more focused on the supernatural instead of reality.

And thank god this excuse actually seemed to do the charm. Sango had written back that Kagome needed to calm down and maybe have a girl's night this weekend. Meaning manicures, pedicures and facials at Kagome's! On top of that Sango suggested that whenever she had any trouble with homework, all she had to do was call and she'd be there to help.

"As for your clock," Sango had continued to write, "We can go get another one after school, heck I'd say even two just in case." The note ended.

'Oh Sango, you're the best! But I wish.. I really wish I could tell you everything. I actually wish your bloodline was active, I could use your help with things.' Kagome thought as she finally settled down and continued her notes. The rest of the day had been smooth sailing from there, even with the four teenage ghosts. Though that was only because Miroku had taken the day off to watch them himself due to Inuyasha's temporary condition.

Even after purchasing two new alarm clocks and a poster, Kagome was still rather cheerful and unknowingly to Sango, the girl had been hand in hand with Inuyasha the entire time. 'He's getting worse, as the sun keeps going down… I'm afraid for him.' She thought after she had parted ways with her best friend. 'I have a feeling tonight is going to be one of those nights.'

Which it was, actually.

For one, as soon as the sun had set Inuyasha had gone haywire. He had no control whatsoever over his demon blood and had fully turned into a youkai. Luckily for Kagome, he seemed very fond of her and just simply attached himself to her. But of course with every good thing comes something equally bad, like the phone call from Miroku. Apparently he couldn't stop the ghosts from leaving his house, they were beyond pissed off and wanted to resolve their problem themselves.

"They broke through my sutras, I don't know how but they did," He said over the phone. "I even salted the doors and windows but my guardian had opened the door on his way in and broke the circle."

She was so frustrated right now, "Do you have any idea where they went?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say they're hunting down every possibility for the cause of their deaths, and are taking out their frustration on them." Miroku replied grimly.

"Marvelous. Well, let's split up okay? You take the school, I'll start with some neighborhoods in the area." Kagome said, 'Too bad Bankotsu and his brother aren't here to help track.'

"Right, we'll meet up in a couple hours at my place, alright?"

"Yes, see you then," She clicked the phone off and observed the growling Inuyasha. There was definitely no leaving him behind that was for sure. She left her room with the youkai trailing her until she got to her brother's room. When he wasn't there she had gone downstairs and spotted him in the living room with a sleeping Gramps. She had tried to motion to him to come over to her but her geeky brother was completely zoned into the TV. With a roll of her eyes she had completely walked up to him and stepped between him and the box.

"I need you to cover for me," She whispered to Souta.

The boy ad nodded, trying to peek over to the TV, "Uh huh, sure sis." When he turned to one side of her, he had spotted a very scary looking Inuyasha and had squeaked.

"Don't mind him," The sister waved off with a nervous laugh, winking at Souta, "Thanks I owe you." She whispered and was back up to her room in no time. Releasing a breath, Kagome had closed her door after entering and had walked over to her closet to quickly grab her fall coat. She had changed earlier into some jeans and leggings with a sweater so she was already toasty, but figured the coat would be necessary, especially at night. Snatching up a pair of shoes from her closet, she had closed the door and put them on as she got to her window.

With a nod she had opened it and proceeded to climb out, Inuyasha already waiting for her right outside. She had hesitantly let him take her so they could jump down safely. However he didn't just let her go there, he had kept a firm hold on her and begun to go off in the direction of the sister school.

"In-Inuyasha!" She hissed, "I can't be seen just _floating_!"

When he had growled back at her, she assumed he was annoyed and soon they were higher up in the air and bouncing off rooftops. At least from this height not many people could see them, plus they were going pretty fast.

'It's so freaking cold out tonight!' Kagome cringed, snuggling deeper into Inuyasha despite the fact that he could not provide any form of body heat himself. "That way Inuyasha, we should check the neighborhoods around that area." She pointed where they needed to go, but the youkai had grunted and continued in the direction he felt best. "Inuyasha!" She warningly muttered, ignoring the grumbling as they changed directions. 'Jeez, why didn't he want to go this way anyways?' She thought.

When they got to the nearest neighborhoods of the sister school, Kagome was placed down and walking through them with Inuyasha. So far, there was no sign of the ghosts and the houses were quiet. 'Well duh! No bodies doing anything except watching TV or studying like normal people.' Kagome mentally reasoned.

Looking for these guys would be like a needle in a haystack, they could be anywhere in the city. 'Huh, is that one of them?' Kagome narrowed her eyes on a distant figure walking in her direction. Next to her, Inuyasha growled threateningly, even if the other person couldn't hear it. 'From back here he looks kinda cute, and he's definitely not what I'm looking for..' She thought with a small giggle, but then composed herself. 'Yeah, 'cause that'd be too easy.'

She continued walking while being mindful of Inuyasha and soon passed the handsome boy who grinned back at her. He had stunning blue eyes and short black hair pulled back into a high ponytail, something that suited him. She had mentally sighed at how cute he was, but knew he was incomparable to Inuyasha.

What she didn't know was that the boy had turned and frowned at her after walking by, his blue eyes focusing on something next to the girl, 'Hmm…'

-X-

"This is hopeless!" Kagome groaned as she sat on a bench at a bus stop for a break, "We can't find them." She turned to Inuyasha for some help, "What would you do?"

The demon snorted, "Call them…" His deep and menacing voice replied.

'So he talks?' She sighed, "How many times have I told you that I don't know how to _call_ a ghost! I don't even know how I do it with you." She wanted to rip out her hair in frustration. 'I'm not a pro at this stuff, I don't know how to do everything like that priestess Kikyo. I'm just a school girl. A silly school girl.' She was getting depressed now, even her companion could see as much.

"K'gome call them.." Inuyasha repeated.

She had glared at him, "What do you _mean_ by that? What, if I just say their names and—" 'Wait a sec, each time Inuyasha has come, I was thinking of him. Is _that_ what he means?' She thought suddenly.

_"To answer your question, you called me last night, so I came…" _

That must be what he was trying to tell her. And if that didn't work… She'd cross that bridge when she got there.

'Okay, focus.' Kagome huffed and closed her eyes, 'Think about them Higurashi. Mamoru, Toko, Sosuke, Allen… Here, now.' She mentally called as she imagined the teenagers faces. All too quickly the group had appeared with a shimmer in front of the miko, all of them bickering about the sudden tug to this place. Her eyes had snapped open to look at them and widened in shock, 'Oh my god, that actually _worked_?' She looked questionably at Inuyasha who simply growled at them.

"Quiet you vermin!" He snarled at them, successfully shutting them up.

The red head called Allen had squeaked, "U-uh-ah guys, what the hell is going on with him!"

"He's scary looking…" Toko whined, hiding behind Sosuke for support.

"Ch, he's just got contacts on or something," Mamoru snorted, "Why the hell are we here anyways?"

Kagome stood up, "You know why! What were you thinking leaving Miroku-san's house! You guys can't go out and about!"

"Why the hell not? Look lady, we're dead right? So we can do whatever the hell we want!" Mamoru argued back hotly.

"And what exactly were you doing? Huh?" Kagome snapped.

"There's this kid that we used to pick on—"

"Ahahaha, that Noegi-nerd and pathetic wannabe dead sister—"Toko cut in.

"Finding him was a piece of cake!" Sosuke chuckled too, "And torturing him with these powers of ours? What a riot."

'Of all the things—Do they even know it was probably him who killed them? … Best they don't know. It's also best at this point to maybe do what Bankotsu-san said after all. Maybe it is best to send them off.' Kagome thought. "You guys are horrible you know that? After all the effort I put into solving your murder, you go around and keep picking on people like you did when you were alive!"

"Well yeah!" Sosuke said, "What else are we supposed to do? Go into the light?" He mocked.

'Frustrating and impossible, that's what this is.' Kagome glared, "If I solve you murder, will you guys go where you're supposed to be?" She asked calmly.

There was a moment of silence where the group had exchanged looks, "I'd agree to that. But only if we get to kill the ass who did us in!" Sosuke said, earning nods from the others safe for Allen.

'Yeah, so not happening,' Kagome mentally laughed. "No deal. Taking a life for a life isn't right."

"What about a life for four?" Sosuke questioned.

"You guys are impossible to work with here," Kagome said.

"No, you are! All we wanna do is get revenge, why can't we do that? It's just one life!" Mamoru yelled, approaching Kagome with a determined and dark looked in his eyes. However he didn't have much of a chance to touch her since Inuyasha had chosen that moment to snap at them himself and tackle Mamoru painfully with a clawed hand around his throat.

"_Don't touch her_," His face was twisted into a snarl as a ferocious growl escaped his lips. He had wasted no time to claw the boys face up and then proceed to break some bones, grinning madly at the cries of protest.

Sosuke laughed almost sadistically, completely ignoring the berserk Inuyasha and his friend, "Why are we being so nice to this chick anyways? She's nothing but trouble…" He decided to approach Kagome next, not at all fearful of what could potentially happen to him if Inuyasha got a hold of him. Because what could happen? He was already dead, it wasn't like there was such thing as being extra dead or something stupid like that.

'Oh no,' Kagome thought's froze. 'Oh no no no _no_. This is turning into a crazy fest of supernaturals!' She couldn't even back up unless she wanted to sit back down on the bus bench.

"Hey, you're right," Even Toko agreed, joining Sosuke's side as they both dematerialized and reappeared directly in front of Kagome with equal sinister looks.

'Don't panic. Don't panic. Remember the books… … Uh, okay not so much. What were those Latin incantations? … Um... what else did I learn?' Kagome nervously tried to remember anything that could help her right about now. Letting out a shriek, she had closed her eyes when the two had raised their hands, only to hear them yelp instead. 'I-Inuyasha?' She peeked open her eyes and stared.

He was taking them all on! Growling and snarling, slashing and punching. He was wild with fury and not even hesitating when he snapped their bones and ripped up their bodies. He was torturing them but at the same time successfully keeping them at bay. He was protecting Kagome by any means necessary.

She was just a human girl. So why was he doing this for her? As a hanyou and even as a youkai he was protecting her all the time. On occasion, only she'd have the power to calm him down and most of all he was practically her shadow. He would never let her out of his sight unless he was obliged and only if he was sure she'd be safe. But why? Why was he doing all of this? Did he… Was she... She was positive she was falling for him. Him. Her protector who happens to be a floating, arrogant, but at times sweet, ghost. 'Oh Inuyasha,' Kagome thought and finally looked back to Allen who seemed to be the only one not wanting much vengeance. "Allen-san?"

"I don't really like violence," He answered for her before she could even ask. "I'm more of a trickster than anything," He laughed lightly.

Still, she was worried. The sanity of these ghosts was snapping one by one. No one was safe any more as long as they were thinking of killing. 'Oh god Inu_ya_sha!' Even if he was dead, she still cringed when the ghosts had landed some hits on her hanyou turned youkai. She also had a feeling that none of this was going to end any time soon, that they could go on eternally fighting and torturing each other unless something was done. She needed to help him somehow.

"Allen you baka! Get the girl!" Sosuke yelled as his fist was grabbed mid punch and crushed completely by the demon.

The red head had sighed, "I don't feel like it." He eyed Inuyasha, "I'd cut it out guys, you're getting your asses handed to you."

Kagome looked at him pleadingly, "Would you mind trying to calm them?" she asked weakly.

Allen shrugged, "I don't really want to. But I guess it isn't fair for your guy to handle this by himself.." He had decided and disappeared from Kagome's sight to reappeared in front of badly beaten Toko. She was just about ready to claw at Inuyasha again when Allen had grabbed both of her hands and forced them down. "Whoa, calm try to calm down Toko-chan. These guys aren't our enemies."

That wasn't enough to stop her, in fact it was enough to piss her off even more. "Out of my way!" She pushed him back easily, knocking him over to get back into the brawl, leaving Allen with a bit of a dazed look.

'Allen-san. This is out of control!' Kagome closed her eyes, 'Why can't those three calm down? Or just go away! Leave Inuyasha alone… go away!' She continued to hear the crunching of bones breaking, the ripping of skin and the war cries as they assaulted. 'Leave leave leave.' Kagome mentally chanted, trying to ignore all the disgusting noises, the repetitive sounds and the yelps of her dog demon protector. No, she didn't want Inuyasha to be hurt. Dead or not, he could still feel pain and she didn't want him to suffer. Especially because of her. Because of her desire to help these souls cross over peacefully she had caused so much trouble. She…

She wanted to protect him now.

The girl opened her eyes while being unaware of the pinkish glow her body was emitting, "Stop it! Get _away_ from him!" She bellowed in a very cold voice.

There was an odd wind, very cold and very strong. For some reason the torn up teens had been whisked away by it, struggling but failing to escape it. And soon their souls were no where to be found, just gone with a shrieking shimmer as the wind died down. Everything was still and quiet. Kagome continued to stand almost majestically with this now powerful glow as the remaining two souls stared up at her with shocked faces.

Well, it was mostly Allen who was shocked. As for Inuyasha, he simply stood and stared with his red-blue eyes. His bruises were healing almost instantly, his bloody fists sewing themselves back together as well as every other injury, "K'gome."

Her name being muttered had woken her out of her mini trance to look back at the full demon. She felt her legs go weak for a moment and had fallen back against the bench behind her with a thud. 'What was that? Where…'

'… _push them away through the barrier you are successfully banishing them...'_

'No, I didn't banish them, did I?' Kagome thought, vaguely aware that Inuyasha had appeared in front of her in a dog style crouch. She felt drained and guilty for what she did, "..Yasha.."

"We're goin… Miroku's." Inuyasha grunted, rolling his shoulders until they cracked to his satisfaction.

"I'll see you there," Allen replied, he too suddenly standing next to the crouched dog demon. He gave them both a small nod before dematerializing.

She was gathered in the demons arms shortly afterwards and was looking up at him, "I really don't know what happened but… … I…" She felt him nuzzle her hair and silence her.

"Calm down mate.." His demonic voice tried to soothe. When he felt her settle he had become air born, bounding off rooftops of homes until he got to the city roofs and sped his way across town. They were at Miroku's shortly afterwards and entering his slightly messy home, a tipsy Mushin sitting in the living room and ordering Miroku around.

"Another thing Miroku-_chan_, if you.. if you plan on help-ing the supernatural…_hic_… hide my sake…" He chuckled, putting his feet up on the new coffee table as the boy picked up fallen lamps and broken picture frames.

Miroku had narrowed his eyes at his guardian and chucked a frame at Mushin's head, "..Stupid drunk.." He murmured.

A lump had grown on Mushin's head, "H-hey! You're supposed to be respect-hic-ful to your elders…hic.."

Okay, maybe not so much tipsy. More like wasted.

This had been the first time Kagome and Inuyasha encountered the guardian and they both so far were speechless. Allen was also quietly sitting on a chair and just watching the exchange with a small grin on his face. 'Wow, this is interesting.' Kagome thought, freezing momentarily when the older man had turned to look at her.

"Oh? Who's this beautiful goddess? … Heehee…" He stood up fairly well and walked over to Kagome to grab her hand, "Pleasure to meet you… and your demon fellow friend…hic..." He laughed, earning another thump on the head from Miroku.

"I can see where your lecherous ways come from," Kagome looked over to the monk who merely laughed nervously.

Mushin sniffled dramatically and rubbed his head, "Oh the pain.. this is what I get for raising such a boy.. abuse… so much-hic.. abuse.." He walked back to his chair and looked around, "Eh? Where did I put that bottle…"

Miroku sighed, "I apologize for my guardians behavior. He's virtually harmless really."

"It's okay, if anything Inuyasha would have done something," She pointed to said growling dog demon who set his eyes on the giggling guardian wearily. "I take it this place was pretty trashed by the ah.. others?"

Miroku nodded, "Don't worry, Mushin is well aware of the supernatural and in fact would rather ignore it, thus the drinking." Again he laughed then cleared his throat, "So I noticed you brought one back. So where are the others? I checked the school grounds quickly but didn't find much."

"Ah.."

'…_Never use this technique unless forced…' _

"I'm the only one left," Allen answered for her, "She sent them away."

Mushin had coughed loudly as if chocking on his own spit, "S-sent.." He coughed more, and turned to the girl, "You b-banished them?" That's when he had finally focused on the girl and looked her up and down, "Oh my."

The teenaged girl had nervously backed up into Inuyasha, feeling him wrap his arms tightly around her. 'What's he looking at?' She thought.

"Mushin?" Miroku breathed.

…

He burst out laughing and motioned for them to come closer, "Sit sit! Relax yourselves!"

They all narrowed they're eyes on him and inwardly sighed, safe for the growling Inuyasha whom never let go of Kagome as they shifted to sit around the coffee table. 'Creepy old man…'

"So, how did you go about banishing these spirits my dear?" Mushin asked very seriously, "Incantation? In Latin perhaps? Sutras? Or maybe a spell?"

"N-no!" Kagome shook her head, "I just.. I just wanted them to get…away from Inuyasha." She looked at him, noting his flattened ears as he kept his eyes trained on the drunk old man. Soon he had turned back to Kagome, his ears perking as he stared. "It felt like I was pushing them."

"Oh-ho, so you do have it hm?" Mushin chuckled.

Miroku raised a brow, "Have what?"

Mushin smiled widely, "Quite a friend! Quite a friend you have Miroku-chan. She's just like her! Just like that Midoriko-sama." He nodded to himself. "But different at the same time. I sense you have much turmoil within you my dear. Your soul is struggling with another. How rare indeed, hee hee."

'Midoriko? As in the woman who wrote the book I have?' Kagome thought, "I'm confused, what are you talking about?"

"So, where are my friends?" Allen asked.

"The miss here banished them somewhere on the other side, and not the side with the light if you know what I mean. Trapped in the crack in between the worlds, doomed to suffer in purgatory. Only foul souls are sent there to be punished. She can return them, oh can she, but it could be tricky!" He replied with several nods.

'…_The results could be disastrous or even seen as cruel to the spirit whom you are forcing into the next world_…'

"If I do, will they still be violent?"

"Undoubtedly, which is why when you do bring them forward again, you must properly send them to the correct world for their souls to rest in peace." Mushin explained.

"These people we believe were murdered Mushin, and the police don't know this. What do we do?" Miroku asked.

"Do you know the one who did it?" Mushin questioned.

"We believe it might have been someone named Noegi, he lost his sister a few weeks back in an accident at a house party hosted by these teens," Kagome said, looking over at Allen who perked with interest.

"Seriously? Huh, well that makes sense…" Allen tapped his chin, "To think we had him right there…'

"In this case, I would advise to take caution. You can choose either direction with this matter, but do it carefully. We don't need any accidents."

Inuyasha snorted and wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist, tugging her into him. "Nothing will happen." He eyed them, as if daring them to try and prove him wrong. This girl was his, and he would not let anything take her away from him. 'Mine.'

Mushin chuckled, "Possessive hm?"

"Let's not forget protective," Miroku added.

"And a loud mouth," Allen also said.

If he wasn't in this form, Inuyasha would have hotly argued back. Instead he simply snarled and kept Kagome against him tightly. He rubbed soothing circles with his thumb against Kagome's side and inhaled her lovely scent to try and keep calm. There was nothing to worry about, this girl knew these people and seemed to trust them.

The girl blushed and coughed, "So uh…"

"Why don't you go home and rest up for the night, I'm sure we can continue this conversation tomorrow, yes? We can try to think of a suitable plan of action." Mushin said.

For now they had called it a night. With the three pissy ghosts trapped somewhere else, they didn't have much to worry about. Miroku had said that he'd keep an eye on Allen and had taken precautions like surrounding the boy with salt and some sutras just in case. Luckily Allen didn't seem to mind as long as he had a TV and endless supply of dvds to watch. He was in general easy to please.

As for Kagome, she had returned home in Inuyasha's arms, her head spinning with all kinds of thoughts. Before she knew it, Inuyasha had gently shook her to snap out of it and nudged her to her window. She figured he'd like to come in with her as well and had constructed yet another strong barrier around them in order to both get inside her room quietly. Dropping the sparking and bright barrier, Kagome had heaved a sigh and looked over at her clock on her night table. 'It's a little bit passed midnight. Not so bad,' She thought, "Inuyasha are you okay if I sleep? I-I mean if you don't want me to I totally understand—" She felt the youkai grab her and force her onto her bed.

"Sleep."

"But I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, especially like this. Are you sure you'll be fine?" She asked.

"Sleep K'gome," He ordered, leaving her to finally give in with a nod.

"Alright, just lemme go and wash up first, okay?" She stood from her bed despite his soft growls and eyed him, "There's no way I'm not brushing my teeth before bed."

He had let her go without much of an argument and had crouched down to wait. His demon senses were going haywire around the girl especially since her scent was that much more appealing and her sweet innocence was enough to make him howl. 'Mate…' He ran a tongue over his elongated fangs, feeling a very large urge to mark the girl. 'Make her mine…' Just when he thought he was under a decent control over himself he could feel it just as easily slipping away. It didn't help that when she came back, she as wearing long pajama bottoms with a little tank top. At least her hair was still down, it hid her neck from him for the most part.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Kagome asked again as she turned out her lights and crawled onto her bed. She heard a distinct snort and rolled her eyes, 'Common Inuyasha reply.' She thought with a mental laugh, pulling her bed sheets back and snuggling into her bed. She had set her alarm for school and look at him one more time. It was funny, Inuyasha was kind of like a nightlight with his soft glow and his bright red eyes, 'Something that should be frightening me right now, but I don't really mind.' She huffed and closed her eyes, ready to get some shuteye when something cold had touched her forehead. Opening her eyes, she blinked up at the ghost who seemed to be nuzzling her.

"K'gome."

She shivered at his deep demonic voice, "Hm?"

"I…I…"

She raised a brow and soon brought a hand from out of the covers to touch his cool cheek, "What's w-wrong?" She mentally slapped herself for stuttering.

He twitched his ears and moved away from her forehead to look directly at her, "Your afraid." He stated.

"W-well not entirely. Just concerned! And uh I guess a little surprised at this point that you haven't done anything to me since you've turned, or since you've been able to touch me for that matter. I half expected you'd take advantage of that and finally kill me or something." She laughed nervously and really mentally slapped herself for blabbing her inner concerns. 'You stupid stupid girl,' She told herself.

Inuyasha actually started to feel bad after hearing that. Even with his blood boiling this badly to mark her, something he was just about to do he felt like he couldn't do it anymore. Clearly she trusted him and he could not betray or frighten this girl at all. "You're mine," He tried to reassure, "Mine to protect not hurt. Mate."

She blushed darkly at the mention of the word and shyly kept her gaze locked with his, "Why me? I thought you didn't like me. At least back when we met. If it weren't for the fact that you weren't used to your own abilities, you could have easily killed me when we first met."

His ears drooped and he kissed her cheek apologetically, "I will protect you."

"B-but—" Kagome started to protest, her cheeks burning even more now.

"Sleep," He ordered softly.

'Oh my god he can be so confusing!' She thought, "You d-didn't answer me! A-and why do you keep calling me mate—" Her protests were silenced when she felt him kiss her on her lips. 'He's… kissing me!' She thought, closing her eyes to surprisingly return the kiss. She was in a daze when he pulled away from her, but she distinctly remembered the smug look on his face and he ordered her again to sleep, and that time she had closed her eyes without another word of complaint.

When he was sure she had fallen asleep, he had placed himself next to her and stuck his nose against her neck to breathe in her scent for the rest of the evening. 'Mine!'

-X-

The next morning Kagome awoke to the sound of her alarm clock and had happily turned off the alarm. She had found Inuyasha to be standing in front of her window, just staring off into space until she had moved to successfully capture his attention. The look he gave her was strange to say the least, but then he had quickly broken it to look outside again. 'Weird much?' The girl thought with a shrug, getting up to go and take a quick shower seeing as she never got a bath last night. When she got back, he was already gone.

'Very strange, I wonder why he's acting so weird?' She thought.

Though she pretty much already knew the reason, and that annoying little voice in her head had equally pointed it out, 'Duh, he's freaked out from kissing you!'

'That is, if he remembers all that.' She cleverly replied, though honestly there was no clever reply when you were clearly talking to yourself. 'Oh god I have to stop doing that.'

She had dressed for school and walked most of the way by herself, but somehow knew that the hanyou was near by despite that. He wouldn't really leave her by herself like this. And for once she actually wished he could just use his weird supernatural powers to help her escape her foaming-at-the-mouth crazy girl friend trio. They practically swarmed her once she set foot onto the school grounds.

"Where have you been Kagome-chan! We haven't seen you in ages!" Yuka bellowed.

"You aren't getting into drugs are you?" Eri worriedly asked.

"Or maybe you have a super secret boyfriend you aren't telling us about?" Ayumi pried with a wink.

Kagome had laughed nervously inwardly but smiled brightly at them, "I've just been busy, honest. As for the boyfriend thing.. I don't know if you'd call us a couple. It's been on and off…sorta." She said, deciding that at least this excuse would keep them satisfied for a while.

"Oooh, what's he like?" Yuka immediately asked, taking the bait.

"Come on, we have time before class, let's go sit inside and talk!" Ayumi tugged Kagome.

She just went with it and decided to describe Inuyasha to them as much as possible minus the whole half demon ghost thing. "…Positively handsome and all but that mouth of his," Kagome sighed, "He can be so rude it isn't even funny but at the same time can be the nicest guy. And he's so protective of me, makes me feel safe."

Eri looked closer at the girl and smiled mischievously, "You like him Kagome-chan, I mean really _like_ like him." She gasped, "You kissed him haven't you?"

She blushed, "Well um, ya maybe.." She mumbled under her breath.

"This sounds so romantic!" Ayumi sighed dramatically.

"Romantic? He sounds like a troublemaker to me… No good boyfriend material." Yuka snorted.

"I don't know, I kind of like the sounds of him. Gives off that bad boy vibe…" Eri grinned.

"Bad boys aren't healthy!" Yuka began to argue.

'Uh oh,' Kagome could feel the argument coming. 'This is my chance… The perfect getaway.' She thought sneakily. Slowly inching away from the girls who started to hotly argue about the perfect boyfriend. Eventually she had made a full dash and got down a couple of hallways before locking herself into the girls washroom to catch her breath. There was no one else in the washroom at the time so she didn't have to get any strange looks from girls as she tried to calm herself. Looking into the mirror Kagome had made note of the drop in temperature in the washroom looked around sharply.

Thank god no other girl was in here, because the mirrors were beginning to crack unexplicably.

'What with this feeling? There's a change in pressure… the place is cooling and the mirrors are cracking.' She thought, turning sharply when a figured at materialized into the room. She had calmed herself when she realized it was only Inuyasha, but the pressure in the washroom didn't change any. It couldn't be… "Inuyasha?"

He was looking at her with furious golden orbs and not even the faintest sight of purple stripes on his cheeks. With the full moon now passed, he was having an easier time controlling his blood. "Who is he?" He asked, holding back a snarl, "Bankotsu maybe?"

She raised a brow, "Uh what are you talking about?" Was it her, or was Inuyasha's powers growing?

The room felt a little more chilly, "The guy you were with, the one you kissed. It was that pathetic hunter wasn't it?" He sneered.

"Calm down! And don't insult Bakotsu-san, he isn't all bad." She soon realized that she shouldn't have said that.

"So it was him," His aura flared momentarily. "I'll kill him." He said darkly, reminding Kagome of his demonic voice.

Just when he was starting to dematerialize Kagome had reached out to him, "No! Stop! It wasn't him!" But he was already gone. Most likely in search of the hunter to fulfill his vow. That was something she certainly did not want to happen. Inuyasha was not allowed to kill a human, he wasn't allowed to go all demonic on her. Especially on her friends. 'Inuyasha!' She mentally yelled, trying to call him back. But no matter how many times she mentally screamed his name, he wouldn't listen. He never came back.

'I am so gunna miss my first class, and all because of this over reacting stupid dog.' She thought with a huff, closing her eyes to focus more intently. If she had to, she would do what she did to the teens last night when she pushed them away. Except she would do the opposite and forcefully rip Inuyasha forward to be with her. 'I will not tolerate this! So you come back, Inuyasha. Come back now!' She clenched her fists, "Inuyasha, come here!" She just about shrieked, mentally reaching out to him and imagining herself pulling him to her.

She hadn't realized he was back until he had yelled at her to stop what she was doing. She had no idea what he meant by it but when her eyes had opened she found her hands to be glowing. And not just her hands, but looking at herself in the mirror she could see her whole body glowing pink. She gaped and let go of all thoughts, her body ceasing its glow quickly.

"The hell was that! How did you bring me back!" Inuyasha questioned hotly.

"You saw me last night! I did it to those guys!" Kagome replied, "And don't you take that tone with me buddy!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want! And what the fuck are you talking about 'last night'," Inuyasha practically howled.

She quieted and stared wide eyed at him. 'So he doesn't remember after all.' "You don't know? Don't you even remember th-the kiss?" She muttered.

His ears had perked at this, and the death aura around him had dropped completely, "W-what are you… I don't remember.. No matter how hard I try, I can't remember anything. And I… I mean we.. we kissed?" He frowned.

Now that wasn't the expression she was hoping for. Maybe a blushing idiot or a smug smirk. But a frown? 'Oh no… He didn't mean to… He doesn't…'

After all that boasting of belonging to him. All the claims. All the times he called her mate!

"Did I do anything else? Did I mark you?" He was in front of her in seconds and looking her over. He didn't seem to notice her depressing aura until after his inspection and had softly lifted her chin to lock eyes with her, "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?"

'He doesn't hate me. He's afraid that he took advantage of me, hurt me in his other form.' Kagome thought, "Actually you did a good job of protecting me. You only kissed me so I'd stop talking and go to sleep." She laughed nervously. She'd been doing that a lot lately…

"Anything else?"

She thought for a moment and tried her best to ignore how he continued to just keep her chin up with one of his clawed fingers, "Uuhm… Besides the whole mate thing again.. Nope, nothing! Haha I should really get to class—"

He grudgingly dropped her chin and nodded, "You're late wench. You had better run."

"Right! See you in class?"

"What else am I supposed to do? Those guys aren't here anymore…"

"Well, Allen-san is. But he isn't someone to worry about."

"Right, well get to class already you idiot! We're gunna hafta stay later if you get one of those red papers!"

She rolled her eyes and booked it out of the washroom, 'Detention Inuyasha, it's called detention.' She wanted to tell him, but figured she'd let him off the hook, for now.

When she reached the classroom, she had come in just in time to sit and set up her notebooks for the lesson. Strange, she thought she'd be late for sure. It was a good thing her teacher was late today, otherwise she was positive she'd get a detention after school and further frustrate Inuyasha.

She was just writing down the date in her notebook when she heard the door open and close, signaling the teachers' arrival. However when she looked up, to her surprise she was exchanging looks with a gorgeous substitute teacher that looked awfully familiar. 'Those eyes, so blue… and black hair…'

"Hey guys, I'll be your Substitute Teacher today. The name's Ookami Kouga, but call me Kouga-sensei, alright?"

"Hai!" Came the reply of all the students that weren't in a daze staring at the dreamy teacher.

Before Kagome knew it, Inuyasha had materialized next to her and was cracking his knuckles while stating yet again his claims over the miko. "Kouga, you had better keep your hands offa what's mine! Ya damn flea bag!"

Kouga's eyes had briefly trailed over to Inuyasha and then down to Kagome whom he shot a sexy grin at, "I'm glad to meet you all. Now If you'll all pull out your textbooks and turn to pages—"

"Don't you ignore me!" Inuyasha bellowed.

Kagome sighed, "Osuwari."

Kami, why her? Why does every sexy guy have to be related to some abnormal supernatural slash spiritual world.

'Just my kind of luck,' Kagome opened her textbook and decided for now she would keep calm and figure things out later.

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**A/N Since you guys waited quite a bit, I decided to make this extra long. Ya forgive me yet? Haha, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Honestly though, the reason for the long wait was cause I was for once being a big nerd and playing Sonic Unleashed on the Xbox. My first ever time using that game system and I was blown away by the graphics and stuff. Plus you know I suck at video games, so compared to an epic gamer who could have easily finished a game in like three nights, it took me one month to do. And that's when I was glued to the tv for about a minimum of eight hours daily. You guys have no idea how much I suck! But at least I got the job done and beat it. It took about seventy lives for me to beat Eggmanland and the three bosses (No joke, I went and collected all the lives before hand. And that's excluding my three attempts when I started with five lives.). Yeah. Well then… R&R!**


	13. November 27th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the wait, and thanks so much for all of your reviews! Greatly appreciated and they motivate me all the time to keep producing chapters! Haha, so much that I haven't updated my other fic in Zombie-Loan. Which I must get to, thus I won't be updating this fic for a little while till I've got the next chapter for my other one all done and posted. Sorry about that, but that's life! Anywho, enjoy this chapter!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 13. November 27th**

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Being as impatient as always, Inuyasha had immediately swamped Kouga once class was over. As much as Kagome wanted to stay and speak with Kouga, she had been obliged to leave to go to her next class. Kouga had also told them that he had another course to cover shortly and needed to leave. If she remembered correctly he had actually said something along the lines of:

_"Don't think you can intimidate me _mutt face_, besides I have a class to teach soon. Why don't you go sit outside like a _good dog_ and wait till after schools over to talk?" He had grinned wickedly before leaving a gaping hanyou behind to proceed to the next classroom. _

Kagome had resisted laughing ever since then. I mean really, _mutt face_? She couldn't have thought of that name even if she tried. Oh and _fleabag_? Looks like these guys knew each other way back. 'Which means he's a demon of some sort and wearing a charm.' She thought to herself as she stared boredly at her teacher.

"Stupid flea infested son of a bitch wolf cub—" Inuyasha continued to rant in a grumble as he sat on the floor next to Kagome's desk. He felt the need to remain near her, especially with the wolf demon now around and reeking up the place with his god awful stench, not that the humans could smell it… 'I'll tear him a new one, I swear it, if he touches my Kagome!'

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hissed in a whisper, "Calm down." She really hoped no one noticed her whisper to the hanyou. She really really hoped no one was paying any attention to her.

"But-!" Inuyasha wanted to howl in frustration, but noticed the girl's very cold glares and quieted down, opting to cross his arms stubbornly and look away.

'Jeez, he needs to calm down before he accidentally flings something or breaks objects. Last thing I want is the students to thinks this place is haunted or cursed.' Kagome thought with a mild temper, discreetly eying Inuyasha every now and then until the end of the day.

She had later on waved goodbye to her friends, telling them that she just needed to ask a teacher a question before heading out.

"We can wait for you," Sango kindly offered.

"Nah, you two go on ahead," Kagome waved off, whispering discreetly into Sango's ear, "This gives you some good alone time with Miroku too. Maybe he'll ask you to the winter formal."

Sango had turned a dark shade of magenta, the colour easily matching her eyes, "Uh ah um… r-right see you later Kagome-chan!"

Miroku raised a brow but questioned no further as to what the girls had exchanged. He gave Kagome a half smile before walking off with Sango. Even with the good distance they had put between each other, it wasn't enough to muffle the echo of the slap Kagome assumed Miroku had received for groping Sango, again.

"He just doesn't learn," Inuyasha muttered with narrowed eyes.

"No, he just likes it too much," Kagome dryly replied.

"What, getting abused?"

"No, feeling her up of course."

"Oh."

"Let's go find Kouga-sensei. I think he might be upstairs or—" Kagome was cut off when Inuyasha nudge her into the opposite direction.

His nose was high in the air as he caught strong whiffs of the scent he hated oh so much, "The flea bag is this way wench," He somewhat grunted, stuffing his hands in either of his sleeves grumpily. He led the way to the wolf demon teacher, taking some twists and turns until they found an empty classroom with only Kouga standing behind a desk and gathering his things.

Looking up, he had shot Kagome a sexy grin, "So, found me did you?"

Inuyasha snorted loudly, "Cut the crap and start talking."

"You know, out of all the students here, you're the most beautiful I've seen. There aren't many girls these days with eyes quite like yours," He used another one of his sexy grins on her, something that would make most girls legs turn into jell-o.

"Fuck off Kouga! Stop hitting on my mate!" Inuyasha snarled, looping his arm around Kagome's waist and holding her close.

She wasn't really happy about being fought over like a piece of meat, but she would deal with it. She was actually quite content with being in Inuyasha's arms right now, 'But the truth is, I'm not really his mate. I mean aren't they supposed to have a mark on them or something? And it's not like we uh… slept together or anything…' Her cheeks flushed at the thought.

"Oh please, I can easily smell and see that she isn't claimed _puppy_. Nice try but without a mate mark she's still up for the taking."

"Why you—"

"Hey! Can we please settle down and talk seriously!" Kagome suddenly spoke up, "Mind telling me how you guys know each other and why you are here?"

Deciding to be the more mature one of the two, Kouga had cleared his throat and nodded, "Fine. But we should talk somewhere else, this place isn't safe."

They had relocated to the roof of the school where Inuyasha made sure no human was within ear shot of them. By the time he had settled back down next to Kagome, the wolf demon had already started to flirt again, causing the hanyou's temper to rise. If it weren't for the miko next to him, he was sure he would have jumped the Ookami by now and ripped him apart.

"Inu-Kuro and I go way back. To the Sengoku Jidai period in fact," Kouga began, "We met when we were brats and have been competing ever since. Either races or tests of strength, anything really." He chuckled at the fond memories.

"Don't forget that I kicked your ass in most of those competitions flea bag."

"Cheh, that's not how I remember it."

"Inuyasha!"

"…Keh!"

Kouga coughed, "Anyways, after this baka got his ass sealed away things got pretty boring and were always so serious. You see, I'm the prince of my wolf clan and I was put in charge of everything. Mutt face was my only form of entertainment aside from killing some weak demons here and there." He shrugged, "As the times went by, my clan began dividing up and leaving. The remainder of them set up an estate near the mountains that's strictly Ookami territory. For extra protection from humans, I went to Sesshy to get some charms to hide our demonic features."

"Sesshy?" Inuyasha's eye twitched, "He would kill you if he heard you say that."

"Nah, we're on some good terms. In fact he's the reason I'm here," He laughed.

"What?" Kagome blinked.

"Yeah, I kinda owe him a few favours. So since I'm a teacher and all, he figured I'd be the perfect demon to send out to watch you guys. That and I can see the dead, meaning I can not only watch you beautiful Kagome, but unfortunately his ugly face too." Kouga pointed to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha bawled his hands into fists, "I'm gunna—"

Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled him back easily, "How is it that you can see the dead? Sesshoumaru-sama couldn't…"

"I guess I was just born with it. That and wolves can be very spiritual creatures, they tend to be more in tune with nature and it's energies than any other animal. On top of that my powers are increased dramatically because of my demon heritage," He nodded, "I know that there are several from my clan who can see ghosts and others who could care less about them and so create a block in their spiritual connection that prevents them from seeing them."

"My brother doesn't give a rats ass about the supernatural, so that explains it for him. I know that I always could see the dead too, even if I'm not a wolf demon, my dog demon blood started acting up as soon as my mother died when I was a kid, and I was seeing spirits ever since," Inuyasha added to the conversation.

"Well, there are lots of stories about children seeing the dead or developing physic abilities because a trauma that has occurred when they were young." Kagome told them, "So then… Sesshoumaru-sama sent you here to watch us, why?"

"He's just concerned that you'll do something stupid, and that dog shit will loose his mind and go on a rampage like he did five centuries ago," Kouga sighed, "Either way, I'm stuck here until further notice."

"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic. Now I have you to deal with on top of all the crap here!" Inuyasha growled in frustration, 'To make things worse, flea bag doesn't look like he aged much. He looks like a human in his mid twenties. As for me.. I still look like the same. Time hasn't affected me during my sealing. He's completely matured and may actually draw Kagome away from me.' He glanced at Kagome worriedly.

"Anyways, I have to get going. I have to meet up with Sesshy before heading home. I'll catch you guys later," He winked at the miko sexily and walked away towards the door. With one final look back, he was gone.

"Didja hafta flirt with him so much wench?" Inuyasha suddenly accused.

The girl glared at him, "Excuse me? I didn't say a damn thing whenever he hit on me. Don't you go accusing me of anything!" She shouted.

"Keh! That flea bitten wolf was all over you and you didn't do a damn thing about it! That's just as bad as flirting!" He argued back.

"Uaargh! You are so unbearable!" Kagome yelled in exasperation, "Why can't you get that I—!" '_Whoa_ Higurashi, professing your undying love to a floating spirit thing is not the way to go. He can't, we can't ever be unless by some miracle…' She thought with a hint of blush.

"…That you what?" Inuyasha asked softly, looking down at Kagome calmly.

There was something about his eyes that the girl found completely alluring, she just felt her face inching towards his. And just when she was centimetres from his lips, she had snapped herself out of her trance, and just stood there staring into his eyes and feeling pretty stupid. 'Higurashi, speak! Say anything!' Kagome mentally yelled, " Uhhh."

'Oh that's intelligent,' A voice at the back of her head pointed out sarcastically.

"We should head back," Kagome practically whispered, still feeling a little overwhelmed with emotions.

"..Probably.." Inuyasha murmured, standing so still.

She knew that if he were alive right now, she would probably be feeling his breath against her lips. With that thought locked in her mind she had grudgingly moved from her spot to begin walking to the door leading to the stairwell. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she was so sure her cheeks were burning brightly with a humiliating blush. 'I can't… I just can't kiss him… I'm afraid…'

Meanwhile the hanyou still stood in his spot, staring at the place where the girl once stood before turning and walking away from him. 'That teaser..' A small grin worked its way up his face, 'Heh, soon Kagome, I won't let you get away with stuff like that.'

-X-

"You want me to what?"

"Hee hee, what a girl you are. It's simple, I want you to meditate while you are here to focus your powers. Miroku told me how your untamed spiritual powers are having affects on others around you. You need to learn proper control if you ever want to successfully become a priestess." Mushin explained.

Currently it was well past dark and Kagome had yet again snuck out to go to Miroku's along with Inuyasha. It was a bit of an awkward walk over, but they dealt with it. Kagome had come here with the intention of finding out how they were going to properly send the spirits off to the next world, however Mushin, Miroku's guardian, had other plans.

It seemed that he found her control over her powers to be quite poor. It was true that she was affecting others, like her brother, unintentionally awakening his spiritual powers because of her own. She didn't mean to, but it happened.

'Stupid miko powers from hell…' Kagome mentally complained.

"Focus my dear," Mushin ordered.

Kagome was now sitting in another area of the house that was courted off. It was a room with a Buddha statue, various candles spread around, and some mats to sit on to meditate. They were actually both currently sitting on some while the boys waited outside of the room patiently.

All in all this was a very peaceful and spiritual place.

"I was also told that you were trapped in a meditative state when you focused too hard on the locating crystal. That is also why we are doing this exorcise. You will need to at least do two hours of meditation a night at this rate to truly grasp your powers without loosing yourself in them like you did before," Mushin added.

'Back at the school, when that druggy was murdering all those students… I remember Inuyasha yanking me out of that state.' She recalled. No, she needed to do as he said and empty her mind. She couldn't really hear his rambling after that.

He didn't expect her to find her centre this night, maybe tomorrow, but certainly not tonight. You can imagine how surprised Mushin was to feel and _see_ the glowing powers surrounding the girl and then watch as they actually twisted around and returned within her being. 'Hee hee, she is quite the powerful one. She doesn't seem to be aware of how strong she actually is. How interesting…' He thought, 'Though this aura of hers feels strange and unfamiliar…'

He decided not to actually worry about it until later on when they got to that point. For now he would meditate himself until he felt it best to tell the girl to stop. When that point did arrive, he wasn't surprised that he couldn't shake the girl awake like Miroku had said would happen. Again she was digging too deep when she focused too hard. He was obliged to go out and fetch Inuyasha to wake her out of her trance so that she could go home for a proper rest.

"Wench, listen you need to wake up," Inuyasha was crouched in front of her still frame, noting how he didn't feel the usual tickle of her spiritual powers flaring about.

'Inuyasha…?' The name had randomly come to mind, stirring Kagome.

"Wench."

Only he would call her that. So it must be him. 'I did it again… wonderful… Two points for the untrained miko.'

Since she wasn't waking up yet again, Inuyasha had decided to use the other tactic that had come in handy last time the girl was too deep in concentration, "So, now that your guard is down, this would be a good time to uh, get revenge for that _tease_ earlier, wench." He purred, leaning closer to her.

'That stupid soon to be grovelling puppy dog was doing it _yet_ again to her. He was trying to take advantage of her while she was—he was going to pay—that infuriating baka_yaroooo_—!' Her eyes had snapped open just like they did last time, crystal blue eyes filled with a wild madness, "_Eat carpet_." She seethed, despite him leaning so closely to her, she decided to take the blow like a youkai and sat him anyways into her lap. "Sit!"

It was quite painful to say the least. Having a head as rock solid as his slam into her lap due to the beads of subjugation. It hurt. Still, she bit back a yelp and took the pain, and when that was over she had shoved him off her lap and into the mat she was on and sat him again.

'He deserved that one, cha!' That little voice at the back of her head cheered.

'_So_ did,' Kagome mentally agree, walking out of the room and past a very nervous looking Miroku who kept his hands up and to himself.

Once Kagome was out of the hearing range, Miroku had entered the room and crouched down to Inuyasha's form, "You can get up now, she's just about out the front door and I bet you want to follow her home, don't you?"

"Damn bitch," Inuyasha pulled himself up and glowered at the monk, "Of course I'm gunna walk her home. Why the hell wouldn't I?"

"Right well you better get going then," The monk remarked dryly, pointing back to the doorway. He sighed deeply once the ghost had dispersed and received a pat on his shoulder from Mushin. "Those two are meant for each other."

"You've got that right, hee hee!"

-X-

The next day was Friday. Finally the weekend was here!

"Let's start with a mall trip!" Yuka piped.

"We can pick up all that we need for facials, mani's and pedi's!" Eri squealed.

"And a really good movie…" Ayumi sighed dreamily.

Oh dear god she had forgotten about these plans…

Due to Kagome's mild break down the day before yesterday, Sango had suggested a girls night in, she however did not say she was going to tell the others about it.

'I bet she regrets it now,' Kagome thought as she exchanged and equally nervous look with Sango. There was no way they could get out of this one, not when those three girls were team attacking them like this. So off to the mall they went, grabbing the essentials to have a really good girls night in. Even Inuyasha was beyond horrified by the girl's actions and almost opted to leave when Kagome shot him a dangerous look that clearly said you-leave-you-die.

'Damn woman wants me to suffer with her..' The hanyou mentally whined. He stuffed both hands in either sleeves and eyed the three overly energetic girls ahead of the group. He sure as hell was thankful that they couldn't see him at all.

"So Kagome-chan, are you still seeing that no good temperamental guy?" Yuka asked.

Sango raised a brow, "What guy? You never told me about him."

"Uh ah," 'Of course this would happen. Gods, I hope he doesn't get any ideas..' Kagome shot a look at the hanyou who just grinned back. 'It's enough he tried something when I was practically unconscious!'

"They're talking about me, aren't they?" He withdrew a hand from within his sleeve to hook it around Kagome's waist.

The girl blushed and looked at the questioning girls ahead, "K-kinda, l-listen it's really complicated—"

"What guy is this Kagome? Bankotsu-san?" Sango continued being left in the dark about Inuyasha and was beginning to get a little impatient.

"No no, not him. We're talking about the guy who kissed our Kagome-chan," Ayumi giggled.

Kagome turned a lovely shade of red and looked up nervously at Inuyasha who's grin had dropped somewhat. 'He can't remember doing that to me…'

"Kissed?"

"Listen, Sango-san it's a bit of a story—" Kagome began.

Eri had yanked Sango ahead and decided to fill her in while Kagome walked a bit sluggishly behind them.

'Oh man… I just knew this was a bad idea..' Kagome mentally groaned. She then felt her side being rubbed affectionately and had again lifted her eyes to look at Inuyasha. He seemed to be comforting her…

"Look, don't worry about them. Just try to have a good time," He muttered, giving her a side-glance, "Okay?"

She felt his clawed hands continuously making circles around her side, just like he did back when Miroku had first shown up in her room. 'He's being so affectionate… I…'

"Kagome-chan!"

The girl had snapped her head back to the girls and laughed nervously, "Huh yeah?"

"We're going to go into this place first," Yuka pointed to their first store.

"Okay, sorry for spacing," Kagome apologized, following them in.

-X-

"Isn't this the life?" Eri sighed happily, munching on low in fat chips while listening to music in one ear and speaking with the others. She, like the other four girls, had a green mask on with cucumbers on her eyes. They also all sat in their own chair with each a table in between that would hold their drinks and snacks as they relaxed. Even Souta wasn't around to be loud and make fun of them. He was at his friends' house, much to Inuyasha's annoyance.

'The kid just had to be gone _today_. Why not tomorrow?' The hanyou though miserably. He was sitting next to Kagome's chair feeling a little antsy with all these women around. He would be just fine if it was her and Sango doing their frilly girl thing, but this? He huffed, wondering why the hell all their faces were green and why they had vegetables on their eyes. He'd never seen this type of thing in the feudal era. Were they trying to frighten others away? This time was just so confusing for him.

He suddenly felt fingers on his head gently brushing his hair and giving his ears a scratch. Looking up, he smirked seeing that Kagome had taken off the cucumbers and was giving him a little attention while the others didn't know it. 'This feels kinda.. nice..' He thought, letting out a small growl of satisfaction.

"Girls, does anyone need any more lemonade?" Kagome's mother asked as she walked into the living room with a carton of lemonade. She looked around the room and then her eyes rested on Kagome questionably. "Kagome?"

'Uh oh... Mama's giving me a weird look...' Kagome thought, looking down at Inuyasha quickly. 'Oh crap! To her my hand is floating and... scratching nothing...'

"I'll have some over here Mrs. Higurashi!" Sango said, lifting her glass while the cucumbers were still on her eyes.

"Alright," Kagome's mother smiled, walking over to pour her another glass. "Any one else?"

"No thank you," Was the over all answer.

"Alright, I'll leave you girls to your fun," The mother smiled warmly, giving Kagome another look and smile before leaving.

Kagome sighed in relief, and looked down at Inuyasha, only to find him looking after her mom. 'Inuyasha?' She thought.

"I'll be back, stay here okay?" Inuyasha said, and before Kagome could say anything he then added, "Don't worry nothin's wrong. Just stay here." He stood and had disappeared quickly and reappeared in the kitchen where Kagome's mother had just put the lemonade away in the fridge.

Mrs. Higurashi had moved to the sink to wash some dishes when she stopped to look at the hanyou and smiled tenderly, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

"So you can see me, huh?" Inuyasha confirmed, simply standing and staring while his ears twitched occasionally to any sounds.

She tilted her head and stared at him, "Oh dear, I'm afraid I can't hear you."

He looked surprised, "Wha? You can see me but you can't _hear_ me?" He pointed to himself.

"Gomen nasai, I know it takes a fair amount of spiritual powers to see the supernatural. I never trained mine and let them fade. You're hardly visible to me to begin with." She shook her head, "Anyways, you should go back to Kagome. I'm sure she's worried about you."

"Uh... r-right..." He blinked, deciding to walk out of the kitchen instead of dispersing. She didn't seem too freaked out about him like the kid was. But still... 'Kagome's powers are still too unstable and powerful. She's even affected her mother's very dormant abilities. She needs to do something about them before she accidentally wakes up the other bloodline hunter...' He frowned in concern, reaching the living room and sitting back down.

Noticing the little chill in the air Kagome had stood up quickly and placed her cucumbers on the table next to her chair. "Well, time's up for me! I'm just going to go wash off this mask now!" She announced earning mumbles of acknowledgement from the other girls. She quickly made her way to the washroom, closing the door and running the water to wash up. Once the mask was completely off she had called Inuyasha to the washroom while keeping the water running to create some noise to muffle their talking.

"What was that?" She hissed.

"What was what wench!" He hissed back.

"Where did you go, and why are you so frigid!" She said in a sharp whisper as she scowled at him, "I swear you are bi-polar!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Grah! Nothing! Just tell me what's wrong." Kagome sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Letting out a breath, the hanyou had slumped a little and then leaned up against the washroom wall, "You need to find some time tonight to meditate for a couple hours."

"I can't, the girls are sleeping over. And what does meditating have to do—" Kagome noticed his serious look and froze, "Are my powers hurting you? Gomen nasai, gomen, gomen, Inuyasha." She suddenly kept apologizing, taking a step back from him in hopes of lessoning whatever pain she assumed she was causing.

His ears perked at her wavering voice and the sudden apologies she was blurting out, "Kagome, didn't I tell you that I'd be fine? You're not hurting me or anyone else... Just... You're brother can see me right?" At her nod he continued, "Well in short he isn't the only one you've affected now. Your mother can see me, apparently not completely though."

"She wha..? Oh no! If mama knows about you—"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her shoulders, "Oi wench! She isn't frightened in the least. She said something about ignoring her powers for a long time then said that she couldn't hear me. Either way, she's okay with me, so far." He added, "Besides, even if she wasn't, there'd be no force alive or dead that could tear me away from you." He nearly snarled, tugging her towards him and embracing her tightly.

Well that was a sure way of calming her, she had relaxed almost instantly in his arms. "...Inuyasha..." She mumbled into his chest, returning his embrace, "I don't know where I would be... if it weren't for you..." She wished she could hear his heartbeat. Feel any kind of warmth from him. But unfortunately, she couldn't.

"Keh, you'd be dead if it weren't for me," He said softly, resting his head on hers. "You're lucky I'm here."

There was a knock on the door, causing the couple to jump a little. Kagome had brought her hands up to his chest and turned her head to look at the door with a little temper.

"Kagome! Are you done yet? The others took over the bathroom upstairs to wash their masks and I have to pee!" Sango complained, "Kagome!" She called again.

The miko giggled and looked up at Inuyasha with her sparkling blue eyes before turning around and shutting off the water. She snatched one of his clawed hands then opened the door only to see Sango with a pleading and now thankful look. It was priceless really. "Need the bathroom?"

Sango glared, "Don't tease, I really need to go."

"You shouldn't have had that extra glass of lemonade," Kagome laughed and walked out while dragging a bewildered hanyou with her.

The rest of the night was going pretty smoothly. The girls had watched their movie and talked about all kinds of things while doing their nails, and even picked on Sango for a little bit about the winter formal, rendering the magenta-eyed girls to a nervous blubbering girl. As always, each time they got together they always talked about Sango's relationship issues, or lack there of between her and a certain monk that Kagome knew.

"So he asked me to the winter formal yesterday, I don't see the big deal!" Sango nearly shrieked.

Again they were a piled into Kagome's room, something that seemed oddly familiar to her. Looking to her side, Inuyasha was sitting beside her on her bed and leaning up against the wall much like her. 'It's just like then... almost a month ago since our last get together, except that Inuyasha wasn't here for it.' She looked down at their linked hands, a faint dust of blush on her cheeks. 'I wonder if what I'm doing is such a good idea.. I shouldn't be encouraging any relationship beyond friendship with him. He's already so attached to me and I him, this can't possibly be healthy...'

"But it is! Don't you see he's in love with you?" Ayumi sighed dreamily. "You two are such a cute couple."

"C-couple?" Sango choked out, "I certainly am no—"

"Oh come on, you totally know it. You like him too." Yuka grinned, "You really should admit it to yourself already. We all know and see it."

"K-Kagome-chan, help me out here." Sango craned her head back to look at her.

Said girl looked down at the blushing Sango and blinked questioningly, "Sorry, what were we saying?"

"Hn?" Inuyasha looked over to Kagome, "The hell has you so out of focus? They're talking about the monk and the bloodline girl being a couple," He informed.

"Heh? Kagome-chan, are you feeling okay?" Yuka asked.

"M-me? Oh yeah! Totally! Sorry, I spaced again haha! You were saying something about Miroku-san and Sango-chan, right? You two are pretty cute together, I admit." Kagome inwardly laughed nervously but kept the fake bright smile she had anyways.

"H-hey, you're supposed to be on my side." Sango complained with a pouty face.

"Sorry, but they're a little intimidating when together." Kagome mock whispered to Sango, "I have to agree with them if I want to live."

"Hey! We're not that bad!" Eri tried to defend.

"Yeah!" Ayumi said confidently, then she deflated slightly, "Are we?"

"Of course not!" Yuka bursted into an evil laughter in which the other two had joined in on almost automatically.

Their combined laughter sent chills up Inuyasha's spine, and _he _was a half demon. Why Kagome was friends with these humans he had no idea. Again he was thanking the gods that they couldn't see him. Hell Sesshoumaru would even be quivering in his boots if he ever met these three girls. "Remind me never to haunt these crazies," He told Kagome flatly.

'Sure thing..' The miko mentally replied.

That evening, while all the girls slumbered, Inuyasha had carefully woken Kagome up with a soft nudge. He had noticed within seconds when Miroku had come up onto the shrine grounds and knew he was waiting for them outside. "K'gome, wake up."

"Mmm not now.." She mumbled back, nuzzling into her pillow.

"Alright, up we go," Inuyasha lifted her out of her bed and shook her gently, earning a furious frown from the groggy girl. Before she could even shout at him, he had silenced her with his hand and pointed around her room. "You have an army of women in here, it's one AM and I really doubt you want to wake them up."

Grudgingly she had nodded, and motioned for them to get out of the room, "Fine," She whispered.

He brought them downstairs where he had gathered her jacket, shoes, keys and phone before leaving through the front door as quietly as possible. They met up with the monk outside in front of the house and nodded to him.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late but Mushin wouldn't stop badgering me about your meditation session." Miroku said with a hint of a grimace.

"I have—"

"A girls night, I know. I told him which made things worse," Miroku messaged his temples, "He said that it was essential for you to meditate tonight on your powers. So I'm here to escort you back to my place for a couple hours then you can come back."

He really didn't like this, the girl was tired and needed her rest. And three times now she had trapped herself within her own mind leaving him with the ugly task of retrieving her each damn time. "Kagome if you don't want to I can go knock some sense into the drunkard," Inuyasha offered.

"No no," She held up her hand to stop him, "This is important, I get it. I should go."

"Well then, let's hurry back. It's a little cold out here." Miroku joked lightly, and the three had hurriedly walked off the shrine grounds to go to the monks home.

Just as Kagome thought her luck couldn't get any worse, it just had. A pair of magenta eyes had narrowed in watch on the couple that was leaving, a hint of suspicion and anger reflecting in them.

"Now where are you going, Kagome-chan?"

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**A/N Voila, toute finit! I'm glad this is up, and apologize for not updating for a while. Haha, oh and Kouga is so going to be way more in the next chapter as well as Sango, hint hint. It'll be real good. Can't wait till I start that one.. Anywho, R&R!**


	14. November 28th

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks so much for the reviews and your patience! The long awaited chapter! Here we go!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 14. November 28th**

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"I don't understand why I can't just take the night off! You guys are so mean to me.." Kagome complained, letting out yet another tearful yawn. She snuggled deeper into her jacket and shivered at the cold wind.

Miroku sighed again at the miko's complaints and eyed Inuyasha for some help. It's not like the monk wanted to get on the girl's bad side, it's just that she needed to train her abilities so that she could properly control them. Even now he could see how strong her aura was, a bright pink light surrounded her and created spiritual tendrils as it seeped out of her. 'I can see why she would be swamped on the night of all hallows eve. The dead were naturally attracted to this powerful aura,' A frown settled on his lips. 'The same type of glow a necromancer would have.'

"Quit your whining wench! You need to do this before you cause anymore trouble." Inuyasha said, wrapping an arm around the miko's shoulder. "Besides, imagine how nice it'll be when you've finally gotten a grasp on your powers. You'll be able to do all kinds of things."

Kagome glared at him, removing the hanyou's arm form her shoulder, "You didn't have to be so harsh about it, Inuyasha! And its way late at night, a time when I'm supposed to be asleep, not awake going over to his place to meditate!" She pointed to Miroku for emphasis on her point and then crossed her arms back.

Miroku laughed nervously, "Well we're here."

The three had entered the monks' home and were greeted kindly by a tipsy Mushin with flushed cheeks. While Kagome was led away to another room by Mushin, Inuyasha and Miroku had gathered in the living room where Allen sat watching TV, as always. Miroku had collapsed on the couch with a little groan of misery while Inuyasha chose to just sit on the floor cross-legged.

"You know, it was a good thing you did come Houshi," Inuyasha began.

"Oh really? How's that?" Miroku muttered dryly.

"Well considering how her brother and mother can now see me… I think we need to find a way to either speed up the process of control, or another way to either hide or seal her powers." Inuyasha explained.

From his spot on the couch, Allen had raised his eyes brows in surprise. "W-wow, she's really tough, isn't she? I'm glad I didn't decide to take her on."

"Actually you shouldn't even be here. You do need to move on sometime, Allen-san." Miroku said. "This world isn't for you anymore."

"I know," Allen shrugged. "But I don't want to go anywhere until I know the others are okay and where they're supposed to be, you know?" He zoned back into the television and began to watch his show again now that the commercials were done.

"Anyways," Miroku coughed. "We don't have any way to tame her powers. To our knowledge there isn't anything strong enough that can seal her powers—"

Inuyasha's ears perked, a low growl escaping his lips. "Houshi, we have company." He stood quickly and cracked his knuckles instinctually. "A lot of company…" This scent that he caught, it wasn't pleasant in the least.

Demon scents.

Miroku frowned and stood as well. "I can sense demonic auras. But this can't be." He marched over to the living room window, gaining a good sight of the front of the house and where the aura was coming from. "What—What is this?" He was left speechless at the site.

Inuyasha and even Allen had moved over to the window to look outside at the view. There were monstrous creatures, things that the monk and the boy ghost had never seen in their entire lives. Inuyasha on the other hand knew quite well what these were, and cracked his knuckles more in anticipation.

Demons.

He hadn't fought a youkai in five centuries. Though come to think of it, he really couldn't do much in this form either. He was a ghost compared to those things out there that were flesh and blood. Hell he could just barely touch Kagome and hold her in this stupid spiritual form, but fight real live youkai? He was useless! 'Shit! I can even scratch 'em in this form.' The hanyou cursed. 'And why the hell are they here? _How_ in the hell are they here!'

"Inuyasha?" Miroku's voice broke through the hanyou's thoughts.

Inuyasha grunted in response and turned away from the window. "Those things are demons."

"D-d-demons?" Allen stuttered in pure dread, "B-but aren't those.. Legends? Myths? Not real in any way?"

"What the hell do you think I am? I'm a half demon, and those out there, are full blooded demons." Inuyasha pointed to the window. "By the looks of it, they've probably been in hiding and were attracted here by something."

"Kagome's powers perhaps?" Miroku suggested.

He didn't want to admit it, but that could only be the possible answer to this question. Back in the times of the feudal world, if a youkai got a hold of a miko and devoured her flesh, they could become immune to certain attacks and others miko's. 'They might have been attracted by her power, and now they want it.' Inuyasha grit his teeth and shot a look at the monk. "Are you trained enough to take out these low grade youkai?"

"It would be best if Mushin would accompany me, however I can keep my own." Miroku walked out of the living room and shuffled around in a closet nearby, withdrawing something that surprised the hanyou. When he returned he showed everyone his golden monk staff and several sutras and seals, "You should let Mushin know of the presence of these, I will hold them off for as long as I can."

Inuyasha nodded. "Right." He had taken off towards Kagome and Mushin to grab some extra help, seeing as this was probably the first time the monk has ever encountered demons. These things were much different than spirits that was damn sure. 'They don't just possess dark auras, they are dark creatures, nothing like a human ghost.' Inuyasha ran through the closed door, and slid to a stop in front of a meditating Kagome and Mushin.

"Oi! We've got a problem, there's demons out there." Inuyasha barked.

"Hn?" Mushin opened one eye to look at the half panicked hanyou then closed it. "Nothing to worry, I'm sure Miroku-chan can handle himself."

Inuyasha fumed and looked down at Kagome, noting her peaceful state, "We need help, so leave Kagome to do her thing and get your old ass out there and help that Houshi."

Mushin sighed. "Yee have little faith, hee hee!"

His eye twitched in annoyance, 'Is this gramps for real? He's not even lifting a finger to help his adoptive son.'

"Hee hee!"

-X-

Outside, Miroku stood in front of the grotesque youkai with sutras in hand and his staff in another. They appeared to be a group searching for something, each sniffing different sections of his driveway and some bushes that surrounded the property. 'I will only have a couple shots at this.'

"A monk?" An ogre demon spoke, "Ha ha, we haven't seen one of your kind in centuries!"

"What is that brother? A _houshi_ you say?" Another ogre demon repeated with a similar chuckle. "But he isn't the one with the grand powers."

"No, this whelp is hardly the one we are looking for," A large purple creature added, its red eyes scanning the area more. "I believe the one we a looking for, resides in that home." He grinned broadly, showing its large rows of sharp fangs, "Ka..gome, yes that is the girl with the spiritual powers."

'So they _are_ after her,' Miroku frowned. 'And it looks like the leader is this one.'

"You are correct, Mi-roku. I lead these creatures," The purple one chuckled. "I am Goshinki, and yes, I can read your minds…"

'Great, just what I needed,' Miroku thought grimly. The least he could do was take out the minor guys before even trying to pick a fight with the bigger one. Though he supposed that it already knew that seeing as it could read his mind. 'No point on dwelling about it.' He forced some of his powers into the sutras he held and tossed them at the ogres, nailing them in the foreheads. "Sacred sutras!"

"Ack! Brother!" The one ogre yelped in pain.

Miroku charged for the two, whacking them both in the head with his staff, successfully burning their bodies in a blue flame. 'Two down, four to go.' He quickly backed away from the four, readying more sutras.

A snake-like demon had sprung forward and received a similar treatment then the other two, disintegrating after being engulfed in blue flames. 'Three more,' Miroku kept count in his head.

An enormous bull demon had charged next along side a large insect demon, a centipede one to be exact. First the bull had just missed the monk while the centipede had grabbed him with two of her several arms and bitten into his shoulder with her fangs. "You are mine, monk." She screeched in laughter, delighting in ripping her fangs out of his shoulder painfully. She sighed as the luscious blood dripped from her mouth, and had encircled Miroku with her body to keep him still. "Now now, I don't want you running away from me." She tightened her body and dived in again in the same spot, teeth sinking into flesh.

"A-aaa_aac_k!" Miroku hissed, his dark blue eyes scanning the area wearily for his staff. 'Damn, she made me drop it when she grabbed me.' He let out a yelp of pain when the insect had further tightened her hold on the monk's body. 'She just cracked one of my ribs!'

The bull demon had ceased it attacks when the centipede demon had claimed the monk to be hers, "Mine! Your delectable flesh is all mine!" She squealed happily.

'Damn.. Damn…' Miroku cringed more at the pain, watching the centipede woman close in on him.

"This is the end for you, dear Monk," Goshinki chuckled deeply. He motioned for the bull youkai to follow him as he moved forward, now prepared to take the miko body for himself. After only two steps, the purple youkais' muzzle had risen when it caught a whiff of a new scent. "Hn?"

"Get your greedy paws offa him!"

Miroku felt blood seep from the corner of his mouth, and looked up with dull blue eyes to the new voice. Strange, he knew that this voice surely did not belong to Inuyasha, so who could it be? He hadn't even realized he was free from the centipede woman until he had a rough landing with the cement ground, the woman's bones littering the place with little bits of steaming flesh. "How..?"

"Are you okay Houshi?" Asked the voice, a man now standing in between Miroku and Goshinki.

'What happened to the bull?' Miroku looked around and found another pile of bones in similar condition to those of the centipede. "I… suppose so…" Miroku mumbled. He gazed at the newcomer and practically did a retake, 'Wait a.. Th-that's the substitute teacher! Kouga-sensei!'

The wolf demon was crouched into attack formation, wearing suite pants and a white dress shirt with a tie loosely undone and his sleeves rolled up. Though the charm that had hidden his wolf features was off and now you could see that he had pointed ears, claws, and fangs. "Stay down, alright? I can take care of this guy."

"Oh? You are a wolf demon, and a teacher at a school? Do you truly believe you can defeat me?" Goshinki grinned toothily.

"He's a mind reader," Miroku informed Kouga.

"Gotcha," Kouga cracked his knuckles in the same fashion as Inuyasha.

"Houshi!"

And there he was now, about damn time too.

"The hell is that wolf cub doin' here?" Inuyasha scowled before noticing how badly injured Miroku was. "Shit, are you okay?"

"I've been better," Miroku muttered wryly.

"Heh, I told you earlier that I would be watching out for weird shit like this since Sesshy assigned me to it. So sit back puppy, and watch as a real demon takes out this idiot!" Kouga laughed, already running up to the purple youkai to begin. First he leapt up into the air and went to kick the thing in his chest however that was quickly blocked by a large clawed hand, shoving the ookami youkai away. Next he went to kick his legs, but was knocked back yet again by claws. 'He's fast, and he can read minds,' Kouga mentally concluded. 'Heh, that's okay,' He proceeded to grin, whipping back around for another kick.

Goshinki blocked it again, all the while sneering, "Too slow, cub!"

Kouga had laughed at him, "Nobody calls me slow!" He howled, becoming a blur as he went and attacked Goshinki again, this time with a punch to the muzzle. Then he dropped and kicked the things left leg, swiftly and hard, practically cackling when he heard a crunch of bones.

Goshinki lost his footing, but quickly regained it with a growl, "I see you can be quick, but no matter. I will end this—" His red eyes widened when Kouga appeared out of nowhere in front of his face, fist pulled back again, "I will not be mocked!"

Kouga went to punch Goshinki, then quickly moved away from the clawed hands that reached out to him. In slow motion he could see them making their way to him, and with a grunt he had used the enemies hands as support to thrust himself upwards and disappeared in a whirlwind from his sight, only to appear behind him with something cracking and sparking in his fist.

'What? Where—' Goshinki felt the presence behind him all too late.

"Lightning Claw!" Kouga had what looked like a glove over his right hand with long metallic claws. He had ripped through one arm of Goshinki's flesh with his claws, landing easily on the cement ground afterwards. There was no need to attack again since the claws power had not only cut off Goshinki's arm, but also electrocuted all the flesh to ash. Goshinki was no more.

Dematerializing the glove, Kouga had rolled his shoulders and sighed loudly. "Whew! That was entertaining."

Inuyasha blinked shockingly at the new development. "I don't remember you havin' those five centuries ago." He pointed out.

"If ya hadn't gotten your ass sealed away then maybe you would have!" Kouga argued back.

Miroku looked between Inuyasha and Kouga with a raised brow, "Do you two know each other?" He asked.

"He didn't tell you? Then again, I wasn't aware that Kagome-chan was friends with a monk," Kouga mumbled mostly to himself.

_Snap!_

Both Inuyasha and Kouga had turned their heads to a noise that was made in the bushes of the monks' front lawn. The ookami had nodded to the hanyou, mouthing that he'd take the front while the dog demon took the rear. In one swift motion, Kouga was standing in front of the trimmed bush, ready to tear into the intruder, when Inuyasha had shouted.

"Shit! Fleabag stop!" Inuyasha motioned down to the girl. "It's.."

The woman cringed after she had made the mistake of shifting behind the bushes. She had nearly died when she first spotted the monsters littering her friends driveway, but this? She had just watched them get mutilated by her _substitute teacher_! 'I am in way above my head here!' She looked fearfully up at the man that now stood in front of the bushes, claws poised. Then she tilted her head back when she heard another voice behind her, but saw nothing, "A-ah! P-please don't hurt me!"

"It's Kagome's friend, Sango," Inuyasha said.

"Who said that?" The magenta eyed girl turned sharply in her crouched position, but could see nothing. "Where are you?"

Inuyasha glowered. "Great, just fucking great!"

Kouga blinked and lowered his claws. "Is that the scent…"

"Of Hunters blood? Yeah, you bet your ass it is," Inuyasha gave a snort.

Sango looked up at Kouga and stood up shakily, "What are you talk—" She noticed almost instantly the bleeding boy behind him sitting in the driveway. She gasped loudly and ran through the bushes to get to him, "Miroku-san!"

"S-Sango-san?" Miroku gaped at her, wincing when she placed one of her delicate hands on his injured shoulder. 'How much did she see?' He half wondered.

"A-are you alright? Those things… What… Were they? And you.. I just…" Sango slid down to her knees and covered her eyes. What the hell was happening? The things she just witnessed, the monsters that were standing here moments ago. She peeked from behind her hands to see the smoking bones of the deceased, eyes widening when the bones began disintegrating. 'What is going on?'

Miroku observed her silently, looking over at Kouga and Inuyasha for some help, 'We need to get inside, before I completely bleed out here.' He thought with another wince, grasping his shoulder. 'On another note, I will need a new fall jacket, and button up shirt…' He mentally remarked with a groan.

"Alright Houshi, let's get you all fixed up," Kouga was at Miroku's side now, and helping the boy up by his good arm and circling it around his shoulder.

"What about this woman?" Inuyasha pointed down at the still-in-shock Sango.

The girl had lifted her head up again to the voice, her eyes looking everywhere for the person, 'Where does that keep coming from?'

"Sango-san! Inu—Oh my god what happened to Miroku-san?" Kagome's voice cut in.

His dog ears perked in her general direction, causing him to turn and fully look at her. Well, at least this time she didn't need his help to get her out of her meditative state. Which meant she was getting better at controlling her powers. Behind her, stood a waving Mushin, who ushered the wolf demon and his adoptive son to come inside the house.

"I'm fine," Miroku smiled weakly when Kagome had stopped to look at him, "Please, go tend to Sango-san.. She is in shock."

Kagome nodded briskly and moved on to Sango, slowly but surely approaching the girl until she stood in front of her. She crouched down until they were level, Inuyasha doing so as well next to Kagome. "Sango-san," She began slowly.

"You'll hafta do better then that wench. She just keeps zoning out weirdly and mumbling." Inuyasha informed her, a little annoyed that this hunter was here to begin with.

She was mumbling? Sango blinked, looking up at Kagome and hearing that same voice again. Except… it spoke to Kagome, not her… Who was this… "Who keeps speaking—Where is he?" Ah yes, she was mumbling after all. And here she thought she was speaking clearly. Blinking again, Sango cleared her throat when Kagome asked her to speak up a little. "Gomen, Kagome-chan.. I—I saw you leaving with Miroku-san… I followed."

Inuyasha twitched his ears and gave another snort, "That much is obvious. Why the hell would you be stupid enough to follow Kagome in the dead of night?"

"She was leaving with my Miroku-san!" Sango snapped quickly, not even thinking before the answer had flooded out from her lips. She didn't even know where this stupid voice was coming from and here she was, yelling at him and saying these… Oh kami what did she just say? She turned crimson and covered her mouth with one hand, looking away bashfully. 'Oh no…'

"Sango-san," Kagome mumbled looking up at Inuyasha. "You heard Inuyasha?" She asked.

Sango looked up at Kagome, a little surprised that she hadn't even started to tease her about Miroku. "Inu.. Yasha?" She repeated slowly. "Who's that?"

"Wench, you better bring her inside so we can explain everything."

"I don't know, isn't there someway to make her forget all this?" Kagome looked at Inuyasha with a little bit of hope in her eyes.

"Nah, I think the demon's outta the bag now," He flickered his eyes to her briefly. "Let's bring her in."

"Come on, Sango-san?" Kagome stood and held out her hand to her best friend, a genuine smile on her face.

Demon? Is that what those things were? Demons? And the voice… Now Kagome, being so nice… And Miroku was bleeding.. There were still bloodstains on his driveway! And everything.. Everything was spinning…

"Oh shit, Kagome I think she's passin' out—"

"Ack! Sango-san—"

Everything went black for Sango, the girl barely registering the pain from hitting the cement ground with a loud thud.

-X-

"Itai itaaai itai itaaa_aaaiiii_! H-hey!" A voice protested down the hall from the living room.

"Now is not the time to be complaining about pain Miroku-chaaan!" Sang the other voice down the hall.

"So," Kouga coughed. "You think the reason those weaklings were here was to get to her?" He pointed at Kagome.

"Yeah, it was pretty common for a priestess to attract youkai with their spiritual powers. I'm guessing the leader wanted her flesh to be stronger against humans." Inuyasha shrugged.

"Th-they wanted m-me?" Kagome repeated. 'With everything that happened, thank gosh Mushin-shishou ended our lesson so early to tend to Miroku-san. Things could have been ugly if he didn't.'

"You could be gentler with that needle!" A yell from down the hall interrupted.

"You disappoint me sometimes my boy."

"Mushin! Where are you stick—Itai _itai itaiiiii_!"

"Wouldja suck it up Miroku? You'll end up waking sleeping beauty with you whining!" Inuyasha barked from the living room, earning a small glare from Kagome.

"Itaiiiii!"

"Here I thought the kid could put up a half decent fight for a human," Kouga mused from his position in a chair. "He's actually just a wimp when it comes to measly pain like this." He chuckled a little.

Miroku had chosen to enter the room at that moment, faint amounts of blush tinting his cheeks as he pulled up the sleeves of his clean zip up hoodie. "I'll have you know," He cleared his throat. "That needles are not at all pleasant, and I did not like getting repeatedly stabbed by one-!"

"Oh please, you only received just a few stitches," Mushin piped in from the bathroom.

Kagome shook her head at the monk, 'He can take a blow that leaves him bleeding to death, but he can't take a few stitches? What strange friends I have.' Actually, she wasn't about to go further with that mental comment, considering all the people who stood in the room now.

"Something is bothering me still," Miroku started with a small frown. "If Goshinki was a mind reader, why didn't he and his demon buddies attack Sango-san if she was hiding just behind those bushes?"

Inuyasha and Kouga exchanged looks then focused them on the slumbering girl on the couch. The dog demon spoke first, answering the question. "That's 'cause of the woman's bloodline limit. As long as she is part of the ones with _killers instinct_, her mind is protected from anything demonic or supernatural. Her scent is even partially covered and undetectable until she's a certain distance away."

"That's just a few of the attributes that made them so powerful and frightening as enemies. Back in our era, hunters were a force not to be reckoned with. They were the guardians of the humans, their protectors. As powerful as a demon and born to kill them on site." Kouga added. He was silent after he had finished his explanation and sat back comfortably in the only other chair in the living room. Next to him stood Allen with his hands in his pockets, the boy staying quiet for the most part while he took in all the events of tonight.

Kagome looked worriedly over at her friend on the couch, deep in thought. If Sango were to have her powers awakened, would that mean she would attack Inuyasha or Kouga-sensei? Were hunters really that cold hearted and animalistic like she was being told? 'I see now why he didn't want me around Bankotsu-san.' She was sitting on the floor next to the couch, keeping a close eye on Sango still while Inuyasha simply leaned against the wall next to her and watched her like a hawk.

Sango was beginning to stir just as Miroku had found a spot comfy on the carpet next to the coffee table. The woman had bat her eyelids open drowsily, blinking them for a few more moments before sitting straight up on the couch. She had quickly scanned the room, taking note of the occupants until her eyes landed on Kagome, the seemingly brighter magenta orbs narrowing on the girl in mild anger. Oh yes, now she remembered why she had left to come to this place. Before she had run into those demon things, she had been furious.

She had witnessed her best friend leaving her own house with someone she was interested in, and taking to the winter formal.

Kagome left with _her_ Miroku.

Kagome-chan.

"What were you thinking leaving at night? And with my date for the formal no less?" Sango suddenly burst, grasping Kagome by her shoulders so that she could look her square in the eye.

There was a crack.

"S-Sango-s-san—"

"What, were you going to hook up with him? Is that it?" Sango continued, not really knowing where this anger was coming from. This just wasn't like her at all. She was really pissed off, and generally it would be directed at Miroku. Of all things, it would never be Kagome.

"San-go-san—" Kagome tried again, her pained voice not really registering in her best friends mind, nor her unusually pale face.

Her magenta eyes were a little brighter now, but she didn't notice. All she knew was that one moment she was shaking Kagome a little roughly by her shoulders, and the next she was shoved back into the couch roughly. Her friend was on the other side of the room in the arms of a man she did not recognize, and looked suspiciously like an actor of sorts in costume.

Oh, he was growling at her.

Growling? Was that even humanly possible? He sounded down right like a dog.

With a grunt of her own, she felt the need to jump up to him and beat the living crap out of him for pushing her the way he did.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Inuyasha asked the girl with a bit of a whimper laced in his voice. All he received from her was a small nod, but he didn't believe any of it. He hook a finger around the collar of her winter pajama shirt and yanked it to her right shoulder, another growl escaping his lips. Dark bruises had already formed on this side, and he assumed the other was just as bad. "That _bitch._ I knew it, I should have killed her the second I knew she was one of _them_!" He seethed, sending another hateful glare and a snarl at the woman on the couch.

Miroku was already up and ready to defend Sango if he had to, but he couldn't help but feel horrible for the bruises that had appeared so quickly on Kagome's body. With a gulp, he half wondered if he was on the right team right now, considering this woman he was defending was probably a tiny bit stronger than him.

"Wh-what?"

Kouga had been watching the scene unfold from his chair, Allen standing right next to him in a similar fashion. "Get a good look, you were the one who did that." He pointed out, standing up to brush the wrinkles from his pants. With Inuyasha holding the miko, the wolf demon would be needed if a brawl were to suddenly break out between Sango and him. The monk would be useless at this point and Allen didn't look like he cared much at all.

Sango felt dread and a wave of guilt wash through her, the anger not gone but just lowered as she surveyed the damage done to Kagome. She couldn't believe that she could have done that, not to Kagome. Never mind how it was even remotely possible to be that strong considering her small size and lack thereof in the muscle department.

"Someone explain to her what she is and what happened out there while I take Kagome to the old man. If she remotely tries to pull anything again, _she's dead_." Inuyasha viciously snarled the last part, storming off with a pale Kagome in tow and faint purple markings on his cheeks.

"Sango?" Miroku fully turned to the woman, his face void of any emotions.

The woman had snapped her head up to the monk and looked at him, feeling worse by the minute, "I…." She sniffled and lowered her head so that she was covering her eyes with her bangs. "I'm so sorry I didn't.. I didn't—" She felt Miroku sitting next to her and rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Monk, how much you know about hunters?" Kouga asked, now leaning against the wall Inuyasha and Kagome were previously at.

"Not much I'm afraid."

'Monk?' Sango mentally repeated. 'Hunter?'

"I guess then, this leaves the lesson to me?" He sighed in exasperation. He stared at the weeping girl on the couch in annoyance and scratched the back of his neck, "Stop your crying and listen up Hunter, because I won't be repeating this."

Sango had shot glares at the wolf demon she knew to be her sensei and wiped her eyes clean of tears. Right now was not the time to be crying and feeling sorry for herself and Kagome. She needed to straighten things out and fast. "Fine, go on, Kouga-sensei."

"Alright, class is now in session."

-X-

"So that man—"

"Inuyasha," Miroku corrected.

"—Right, Inuyasha, is a five century old ghost. And you're a ghost too." A finger pointed to Allen. "You're a full demon who's just as old, he's a monk, Kagome's a priestess and I'm a Hunter? A Hunter?"

"We've been through this whole thing already," Kouga pinched the bridge of his nose to help with the minor headache he was getting.

Sango on the other hand was still processing. She was in shock to find all this out. Where Kagome had been off to for the past month, what she had been doing behind her back. About how real ghost and ghouls really were and how she wasn't the only Hunter either. There were two others, though out of town, but bound to be able to help her with her issues with the ah.. Strength thing. Apparently it was common for Hunters to have temper tantrums like that out of the blue as their powers developed.

So it was a gene, this Hunter thing. Something that had been in the bloodline since kami knows when. Only active when needed. With Kagome's adventures right left and centre and her massive power fluctuations, this actually made a good mix to give a jump start to Sango's bloodline limit. 'I was born to destroy supernatural things that are not meant to be in this world. I'm meant to protect it.' She thought.

Which brought on an important thought. This was why she had the feeling to jump that demon ghost earlier. She had been so tempted to tear Kagome away from him and beat him to a pulp. Even now, Kouga was giving her a similar feeling. "So then, if all this is true, shouldn't I be trying to kill you or that ghost—"

"Inuyasha," Miroku corrected again, inching away from the girl when she shot him a brief warning glance.

"—Right, Inuyasha, or something? I mean I know right now I have this weird urge to just start an all out brawl with you, but I also know that you guys aren't all bad, so I shouldn't even be considering things like this, but I am! It's so confusing, like I'm fighting with myself to stay sitting on this couch."

"Those are your _killers instinct_ kicking in. I'd like to say that they're like demon instincts, but that's putting it lightly. You're much more sensitive to the supernatural, and basically hardwired into becoming killing machines when it comes down to it." Kouga explained smoothly. "But since this Bankotsu guy looks to be level headed, when he gets back we can get him to teach you how to control yourself around us so you don't accidentally start a fight."

"This is, so strange.." Sango wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered.

"Actually, for a human who just found out she wasn't-so-human-after-all, you're taking this real well," Kouga complemented.

"Thanks," Sango dryly muttered. So this meant that not only did she have these abilities, but her younger brother did too. And most likely her father. "My little brother, should he know about this?"

"I think it's best you don't mention this to your family. As a precaution." Miroku replied. "They do not need to be aware of the unknown as of yet."

"But what if—"

"Jeez woman, can't you see that we've got this city under strict protection? Whenever something weird pops up, it's dealt with. Your family is safe, just like the rest of 'em," Kouga pointed out, one of his pointed ears twitching upon the arrival of Inuyasha and Kagome. "Oh, so mutt face is back. How are you doing Kagome?" His voice instantly went gentle.

There was a low rumble in his chest, growls escaping the hanyou's lips directed at the youkai, "Feh, she'd be doin' better without you around, flea bag!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome warned with a small growl of her own.

Damn, she just knew how to intimidate him.

He grunted a small response, holding the girl more closely while he made his way to the empty chair. He had sat down and held her firmly to him, his eyes constantly darting from the ookami to the Hunter warily, "Does she know?"

"Gomen nasai, Kagome-chan!" Sango suddenly said.

Kagome had smiled as brightly as she could. "Don't worry. I already forgave you. I know how things must have looked with Miroku and I, but you should know that Inuyasha was there too. I never meant to cause any harm, I just needed to meditate." She giggled a little and winced when pain shot through her shoulders.

"Don't move so much," Inuyasha spoke very soothingly to Kagome. "It'll only hurt more."

"R-right…" Kagome yawned tiredly, blinking slowly.

"I believe it is time for everyone to return home for the evening," Mushin came into the living room with his usual smile on his face, "The drugs that I gave Kagome will make her fall asleep very soon, and it is apparent that you are all in need of rest."

"What about...?" Sango looked down at her hands.

Miroku shook his head, "It will be fine. Just try to avoid grabbing things, and also try to avoid being angry. Once you wake up tomorrow morning try to come here as soon as possible and we will think of something to do with your… Power."

Miroku had escorted them all back to Kagome's shrine while Kouga stayed back to do some mild damage control of whatever flesh or blood that was left in the front yard and driveway. Inuyasha had joked a little about the monk actually keeping his hands to himself and earned a glare from the boy as he was leaving the shrine grounds. Personally, the hanyou would have loved to see what kind of bruise she could give the hentai if he had actually groped her when they were saying goodnight.

Sango had apologized profusely again before they went inside the quiet house, still feeling beyond horrible for what she did to her friend. When Kagome brushed it off, she had bit her lip and given in for now since they were inside. There was no sense in arguing here, especially with the small army of girls slumbering in Kagome's room. Though now when you thought about it, Sango could actually stand a minor chance against them with this newfound strength.

'No, Yuka could probably still find some way to win any battle… I don't even want to think of what Ayumi or Eri would do..' Sango thought.

They had made themselves comfortable in Kagome's room again, Inuyasha still holding onto Kagome just as possessively as before. He had been torn at the door between forcing Kagome to make a barrier or Sango taking Kagome to her room, but it was quickly decided that it was both safer and better for the miko to make a barrier. She had told him that it was better this way considering how fragile she was right now and Sango's un-mastered powers. Not that she could talk much.

'If my powers weren't so stupidly strong then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!' Kagome mentally shouted at herself. She shifted into a little more of a comfortable position in her hanyou's arms and sighed. Her shoulders had been terribly bruised, with hand print markings. One of her bones was cracked and her muscles felt like they had the life squeezed out of them. 'But according to Mushin, I should heal a little bit faster than a normal human and he put some weird stuff on me that is helping with the mending of the broken vessels and my cracked bone.'

Inuyasha nuzzled Kagome's hair. "Get some sleep wench. We can figure things out later." He whispered, now that Sango could hear him, things weren't going to be as fun anymore. "Okay?"

"Hmm," Kagome acknowledged lightly, smiling at him.

He felt pretty shitty himself. Considering how slow he moved to stop Sango from hurting Kagome anymore and all. 'If I had known her powers had completely come to life like that, I would have never let her hold Kagome that long, let alone touch her.' He mentally growled, his youkai senses on full alert knowing Sango's bloodline limit had been brought back to life. 'Damn Taijiya clan…' The hairs on his neck rose. It was going to take some time to get used to this feeling. And hopefully that idiot Bankotsu and his crazy brother Jakotsu would come back soon.

Ha, he couldn't even believe he was wishing the other hunters were here. 'Until then, I'll have to keep a close eye on her. There's no way in hell she's getting near Kagome on my watch.' With that resolve, he had dug his nose into the miko's hair and sighed a little dreamily, focusing on her scent to keep him calm and collective. He could lay here for the rest of his days, and still be content. But he didn't want to just be content. He selfishly wanted more than that.

'Soon… I will have you Kagome, that's a promise.'

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**A/N Good? No good? Ha, like I said before, this chapter had more Kouga and a pretty pissed off Sango. Jeez, strong girl isn't she? Just wait till the boys come back into town, Miroku will have a bit of competition for attention. Bahahaha. So, R&R!**


	15. November 29th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks for all your awesome reviews! Now on with the chapter!  
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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 15. November 29th**

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Just as Miroku had planned, Sango had come over to his place as soon as she had woken up. She had even gone as far as skipping breakfast to make it to his home before anyone could notice the changes in her. That and the newly dented bathroom doorknob… She really needed to work on her grip on objects.

So now it was Sunday. A full day had been spent in this perverted monks house. To her surprise he hadn't even tried to pull any moves on her! She knew she was super strong and all, but she didn't think that strength like this would stop him from groping her. 'I could get used to this.' Sango mused. She was sitting cross-legged on the couch in the living room, carefully drinking tea from a metal thermos. She had tried drinking from a mug yesterday, and that ended with hot water landing in her lap as well as broken shards from the mug. Again, she really needed to work on her grip.

"Kagome is almost done meditating with Mushin. After that we're going to try and return your friends from wherever Kagome had sent them and properly send them to the next world." Sango heard Miroku explain to Allen.

The red head nodded. "Great, thanks man. I know we've been a lot of trouble to you guys. First ticking off that reaper, then dicking around with others and all." He scratched the back of his neck and smiled apologetically.

Miroku shrugged. "We've been through worse."

"Right yeah, bet you have." Allen agreed, and then shuffled a little uncomfortably before asking. "What's gunna happen with.. you know, Noegi?"

"Actually, since your little haunting antics the other night, it seems that he was beginning to feel the guilt of his actions. I read in the newspaper yesterday that he turned himself in at the police station." Miroku answered with a small smile.

"Oh." Allen actually looked a bit shocked for a moment.

Sango observed the boys silently. Miroku had told her yesterday about the four ghosts from the accident involving the students of their sister school. She was actually surprised to hear about all the supernatural occurrences that had been happening all around her. She couldn't believe she didn't know about it until just a day ago. She shivered, taking another sip of her hot tea.

'It feels so wrong just sitting in here and doing nothing while Miroku is talking to a ghost. And I really don't like that Inuyasha. He's really gotten on my nerves.. and feeling him just in the next room with Kagome just makes me want to—' Hot tea spilling on her hand had stopped her mid-thought, the woman hissing and blowing on her hand to cool it. Damn! She hadn't even noticed squeezing the thermos this tightly. She managed to bend the thing like it was nothing!

Ah crap, if she broke one more thing Miroku would kill her.

Looking up, the boys were still talking. So as quickly as she could, she tried to pop the dent out by bending it another way. She nibbled on her bottom lip in concentration and silently beamed when the thermos had gone back into the correct form. 'Haha! I am getting used to my strength after all.'

"There's no way I can do this, I'm not ready." Kagome's distant voice argued loudly.

Sango turned her head to find Kagome with her poltergeist hanyou and shishou walking out from the meditation room together. 'What's this now?'

"Kagome, there's no reason you can't do it. You were able to pull me back when I was already half way to finding that hunter. This shouldn't be that difficult now that you're beginning to have a firm grasp on your powers." Inuyasha reasoned.

"But that's the thing, I _don't_ have that much of a grasp on my powers. I've only meditated for a few days. I still sometimes get caught up in myself and need you to bring me out." Kagome wrapped her arms around herself. "Can't Mushin-shishou bring them back?"

The old man next to her chuckled loudly. "My dear, I'm only a simple monk. You are the one with the great power. Only you can return them. Besides, you should give yourself more credit. Your aura has been a little bit more tamed since you began your exorcises."

"It has?"

Inuyasha backed away to look at the girl himself, "Huh, the old drunk is right. You do look a little different."

The miko looked between the two then down at herself with a raised eye brow. She couldn't see anything. Just her clothes and her skin. What the heck were talking about? What glow? 'The only times I've seen myself glow has been in the washroom and I think back when I sent the others away. But now? I don't get it, there's nothing here.'

"You do realize what kind of glow she has, don't you?" Mushin was now speaking with Inuyasha a little more quietly.

The hanyou had turned to the monk with a hint of curiosity and suspicion in his eyes. He figured that the glow that was naturally always around Kagome was the glow of a priestess, something only seen by other spiritual beings like mikos monks and spirits. He had never seen one until Kagome had freed his soul from the Tessaiga. 'That is what it is though, right?' But the look that Mushin was giving him made him question his own answer.

"I take it you don't." Mushin murmured.

"Don't what?" Kagome asked suddenly. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothin'." Inuyasha rumbled, shooting a glare at the old and grinning man. "Go sit with the others while we set up the circle to bring the spirits forward."

"Uhm, okay." Kagome said slowly, wanting to ask again what they were talking about but then just decided to shrug it off. Whatever, if they wanted some time to talk over some things privately, she would let them. But one way or another, she would pry out that conversation from Inuyasha and find out why he had basically told her to scram.

She sat next to Sango and huffed, leaning back carefully into the couch cushion. Her shoulders still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as the previous day. Mushin had even looked at her and was beyond surprised that she was healing already. 'Again, stupidly powerful spiritual powers must be playing a role in this.' She thought with a hint of annoyance. Though she couldn't really complain. Healing faster meant less pain and would mean Sango wouldn't feel too guilty for long.

"How are you feeling?" Sango asked worriedly.

Kagome smiled weakly. "I'm okay. How are things out here? Has Miroku attempted to pass a move on you yet?" She was quick to change the subject, grateful for the small laugh from her friend.

"No he hasn't. I think he's afraid I might break something valuable to him. Or just break him period." She snuck a look at the monk still deep in conversation with the red head ghost. "Do you think that.. A relationship could still form between us, even though… I'm like this?" She stared down at her thermos and bit her bottom lip.

What could she tell the hunter that would make her happy? Make her feel confident? She didn't know much about her kind, or their blood limit. Inuyasha was the one with the answers, the one who actually most likely fought against a hunter back in the Sengoku Jidai. "I think…" Kagome began, trying to be careful with her choice of words. "When Bankotsu-san comes back, everything will be fine. I've been with him and Jakotsu-san, and they're both hunters. They didn't seem to be experiencing any problems with their powers. I'm sure when they get back, they'll take you under their wing and teach you everything they know. You'll be fine, Sango-san."

The magenta-eyed girl took another sip of her tea. "Thanks for the encouragement." She mumbled in a bit of a daze, clearly thinking over what Kagome had said.

"Besides, you're not the only one with crazy abilities. I'm working really hard too just to keep mine in check. If it weren't for me, none of this would be happening." Kagome added.

"Kagome, you shouldn't blame yourself." Sango tilted her head. "I was obviously a ticking time bomb myself. From what I can understand, with all the weird stuff happening, I would have woken my dormant ability one way or another."

"I guess…"

"Oi! Wench! We're all set up." Came Inuyasha's voice from the door of the meditation room.

Everyone had shuffled inside that room safe for Sango who decided to sit outside the door to give everyone some room. The weird circle and markings drawn on the floor took up enough room as it was. They didn't need an extra body just floating around in there watching uselessly. So she decided to sit this one out and let them take care of things.

"Now my dear, you bring them forward and trap them in this circle. From that point, I will read the exorcism spell and banish them to the proper world where they can rest in peace. Does that sound easy enough?" Mushin asked Kagome.

Kagome nodded eagerly, standing in front of the circle with Inuyasha on her one side, and Miroku standing on the other. Mushin was on the other side of the circle, book in hand while Allen just leaned up against the wall to observe everything. Hurray, your typical Sunday, summoning spirits and then exorcizing them! 'Don't I suddenly lead an exciting life?' Kagome mentally chuckled and then closed her eyes. Here we go.

At first she focused on the three spirits faces. She imagined a veil that separated the world she banished them to from their own. She mentally reached out to them and gave them a tug, trying to pull them through said veil. 'Toko, Sosuke, Mamoru.' She mentally whispered, gently ramping up her power to pull them harder.

"Keep going, you're doing fine K'gome." Inuyasha rumbled encouragingly in her ear.

This summoning technique, she had read about in the book Jakotsu had so graciously given her. She had brought it over today to show Mushin-shishou during her lesson. He told her specifically how to properly summon the spirits back into this world without having her powers surge all over the place. This technique allowed her to focus more easily and was more effective than any other method at the moment. So, as opposed to simply calling them, which wouldn't do much good unless she sent out a huge call that alerted them in the next world she had shoved them in, she instead was manually pulling them through.

She tugged a little bit more on their ghosts, being mindful to not loose control. They were being pretty good, and weren't fighting it too much. Either they were ecstatic to leave that world, or she was in for a hell of a mouthy bunch.

"They're shimmering in, just one last pull wench." Inuyasha murmured gently.

She did one last tug and voila. Three very angry looking ghosts where standing inside a circle of salt and sutras.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Toko drawled out, shooting glares at Kagome. "What did this bitch just do?"

Mamoru looked around the room and made a move to leave the circle, but an invisible force kept him inside. "What the fuck is this crap? Why can't we get out!" He slammed his fist into the barrier.

"Allen? Is that you? The hell is going on?" Sosuke spotted Allen leaning against the wall calmly.

"Nothing to worry about." Mushin's chuckles caught them off guard. "You are simply here to be properly sent to the beyond."

"Not this crap again." Sosuke breathed in exasperation. "Look old man, we aren't going anywhere until we find the prick who killed us!"

"Yeah! And do him in ourselves!" Toko added fiercely.

Mushin simply ignored them and turned his attention to the book he was holding. And so the exorcism began.

Kagome had stepped back from the circle and grabbed Inuyasha's hand for some support while Miroku stood his ground in case the circle couldn't hold the trio. She had hoped to settle this matter in a more positive way, but these ghosts were just too restless and needed to be sent out the hard way. At least she knew for sure though that they were going to the right place and not being trapped in limbo anymore.

"Don't worry, this is the right thing for them. They're just being picky." Inuyasha rubbed his thumb over her hand.

"Yeah.." She didn't sound too convinced.

"What is that?" Toko mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

Mamoru and Sosuke did the same and were both equally confused. "A black hole?"

Kagome and Miroku had exchanged looks, not seeing what the spirits were seeing.

It was like something had yanked them up. The ghosts I mean. Like a string had wrapped around their torsos and just giving them a firm tug upwards. Then they were gone.

No more vengeful teenagers.

"I guess now's my time to leave too." Allen pushed himself from the wall and nodded to everyone.

Mushin had closed his book and smiled largely at Allen. "It was good to have you here my boy. Find peace in the next world." He bowed respectfully.

Allen grinned shyly and returned the gesture. "Yeah, I will definitely try. And I'll try to help the others chill out too." With one last wave, he had dematerialized from the room.

Kagome had let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, wincing when her shoulders drooped a little. "Well, does this mean I can go and do something non supernatural?"

Mushin had chuckled again and reached for something that was in his pocket. "Oh yes, but first I have a small gift for you." He walked around the circle and handed her a necklace of sorts. Upon closer examination it turned out to be a pink amulet that hung on a nice black chain. "Here, this is something that we carried in our family for generations. I didn't think of it before until I looked into that wondrous book you brought."

"What are you talking about? What's so special about this?" Kagome took the amulet gingerly and stared at it inquisitively.

"Well, for starters it belonged to Priestess Midoriko-sama."

"Mi-Midoriko-sama? The woman who wrote the book?" Kagome gaped at the necklace.

"Hai. This necklace was made with a special material that was melted down and turned into this. It was made specifically for her, to help her control her powers." Mushin explained. "Until now, I had almost forgotten we had it. Somehow I know it will be useful to you my dear."

Kagome had wanted to ask more about it, seeing as the look the old man was giving her kinda creeped her out. It was like he was expecting some thing to happen. That and he wasn't telling her something crucial about this necklace. 'Well, he wouldn't give me something harmful.' She thought with an inward nod, delicately placing the thing around her neck.

Next to her she heard Inuyasha take in a sharp breath as soon as the gem had dropped against her chest. She didn't feel too different, maybe more relaxed if anything. Was Mushin-shishou trying to play mental games with her or something? _'Oh yeah, this will totally help you control your powers'_ when in reality it does absolutely nothing. Next thing you know, you learn anyways how to master them and shishou reveals oh so cleverly, _'It was never the necklace, it was you, heehee'_. How cheesy would that be? No, how _stupid_ did her master think she was?

She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic to Mushin-shishou when Inuyasha started to look at her strangely. Was there something on her face maybe? Or did this necklace look horrible on her? No, it had to be something else… 'What is he staring at?' Jeez, she was beginning to feel self-conscience about herself now. She looked away and shyly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, hoping she'd look a bit better.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was simply in a little daze. It was as if the conversation he had with Mushin was returning to him like wild fire. For once, the old drunk wasn't just sputtering nonsense. He had actually made more sense as to why Kagome was as strong as she was.

"_You do realize what kind of glow she has, don't you?"_

Damn. He hated when other people were right about stuff. But this…

"_You do realize what kind of glow she has, don't you?"_

He mentally cursed.

"_There is only one other person in the entire world who has ever had a similar glow. The glow of a Priestess… and the glow of a Necromancer."_

"_A Necromancer? The hell are you talking about old man? She can't be both a Necromancer and a Priestess. Sure their powers a similar and junk, but there's no way they can coexist inside one person." _

"_Oh? So you doubt me? You know she isn't the first to have this power. There was one other before her. Someone from before your time." _

"_Wait, you're not telling me that—"_

_"Priestess Midoriko. Yes, she was born as both a Miko and a Necromancer. A hybrid. That was why she was so interested in the two subjects and researched them so. She wanted to learn more about her existence, her rarity."_

"_I remember now, I read about how a war was started to gain advantage of her unusual powers. My father fought in that war to protect her from other youkai. If a demons soul or even an evil human spirit had forced themselves into her body, possessed her, with that kind of power they could rip open a door to hell and summon armies of the dead without much trouble. Even armies of full demons would be at their beck and call." _

"_That's right. I see you were told of her story."_

"_My brother had in interest in her when I was still young. I found some of his books and read up about her before the son of a bitch kicked me out of the Western Lands. Prick… But I never really believed a word of it." _

"_Yes, well.." Mushin coughed. "In order to help prevent being detect by souls and being possessed by one, she had a sword smith construct her a special necklace made with a gem material used only by Necromancers. When she wore it, it partially hid her Necromancer glow, and it produced a barrier that prevent possession." _

_"You know where this necklace may be?"_

_"Of course! I have it! Hee hee. I found it in storage, covered in dust. Boy did my nose feel—"_

_"Are ya gunna give it to Kagome?"_

_"Hm? Oh yes yes! A marvellous idea!" _

_"Stupid old man…"_

"_Now then, I don't believe she is quite ready to hear the story of the miko. So for now, we will tell her that this necklace will help her focus better." _

"_Yeah yeah. That's sounds good to me. But one more thing, how is it that you can see Kagome's glow? I'm sure you can see her miko aura, but how did you know about the Necromancer glow too? Isn't it only spirits that can see it?"_

"…" _Mushin had been rummaging for the tools necessary to make the circle and had stopped, suddenly frozen. "I had a very powerful near death experience. Ever since then, I've been able to see all kinds of different things a normal ningen could never see." He spoke gravely._

_He stayed quiet for the rest of the time Mushin set up the circle for the summoning. Only speaking to call the others over when it was complete and ready to go._

Inuyasha blinked back to reality and found himself still staring at Kagome and her dimmed aura. That necklace really did have some weird power to it. It practically took half the shine off of her, which was good considering it was that exact glow that attracted spirits to begin with. 'Serves me right for not believing in the old stories.' He thought.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome waved a hand in his face. "Uh, are you feeling okay?"

The hanyou snorted softly and turned away. "Yeah yeah, let's get going. You still have some of that school stuff to do, right?"

"I almost forgot about that." Kagome gasped. "Sorry guys, I do have to go!"

With a brief wave to the others, Kagome had left while there was still some daylight out. She shivered at the cool wind and wanted to wrap her arms around herself more tightly, but just couldn't. It hurt too much on her shoulders, healing quickly or not, it was still a bitch.

'Maybe I shouldn't go to school tomorrow. I won't be able to carry my bag and Sango won't be going either anyways.' She peaked at Inuyasha from her peripherals, admiring his half demon features that glowed from the setting sun, a small blush dusting her cheeks. 'I could also spend more time with Inuyasha. Crap, I shouldn't be thinking that way. He's a ghost Higurashi. Well, not really the dead kind… more like just a floating soul... Kami who am I kidding, he's a ghost. And you can't have relationships with them. Even if they're cute…'

'_Cute? Try a sexy hunk of a ghost.'_ A small mental voice pointed out.

She turned a deep shade of crimson, looking the opposite way of Inuyasha. Now the wind didn't feel like it was cool enough. She was getting to be too warm. 'Think of something else!'

"Are you feeling okay wench? Are your shoulders bothering you?" Inuyasha asked unusually softly.

"Yeah, no, they're fine. I took some pills before we left." Kagome mumbled out quickly.

Silence.

They just remained quiet for the rest of the way home. Which wasn't all bad considering it kept Kagome from blabbing out embarrassing things. 'Thank Kami for that.' She thought as they walked into the house. They greeted Kagome's mother once they got inside, the teenager heading upstairs immediately while Inuyasha lingered on the main floor for a few minutes. He had followed Kagome's mother into the living room and spooked her a little when she saw him right behind herself.

"Gomen, I just didn't expect you to be there. I thought you were going upstairs with Kagome-chan." She smiled apologetically.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I was, I just had a question to ask you first."

Mrs. Higurashi frowned and shook her head at him. "I still can't hear you I'm afraid. Do you mind writing down what you're trying to tell me?"

"Writing?" Inuyasha repeated. He could read, sure, but he was never taught how to properly write. He had no idea how to go about this and just settled for shaking his head. Out of all the damn things he could not do, why, why didn't he know how to write? 'This isn't my time. Writing skills are essential in this world. Not like the Sengoku Jidai.' He sighed.

"Oh." Mrs. Higurashi mumbled. "Well I-I don't know how—"

"It's okay. Never mind." Inuyasha waved his clawed hands around and just shrugged her off. He would just have to wait until she was able to hear him is all. His question could wait, even if he was as curious as hell to ask about it.

His thoughts had trailed back to what Mushin had told him, and what he already knew himself. If Midoriko was a hybrid in his era, born with a father as a necromancer and a mother as a priestess, could that mean that Kagome was the same? Was her father a necromancer, and her mother a priestess?

"Gomen nasai, I know it takes a fair amount of spiritual powers to see the supernatural. I never trained mine and let them fade. You're hardly visible to me to begin with."

She had to be a priestess, she told him that she had dormant spiritual powers.

He trudged up the steps, even though he knew he could easily poof into Kagome's room effortlessly. This just gave him time to think a little more… If Kagome was born the same way Midoriko was so long ago, could it mean that time was repeating itself? Was there possibly a war coming?

'If that's at all true, then we need to be prepared. I need my body back as soon as possible to protect her. But how can we do that?' He grit his teeth and cursed under his breath. 'As long as I have a demonic spirit trapped inside my meat suit, I can't do _squat_.' He walked into Kagome's room, his nose instantly getting bombarded with her sweet scent. You could bottle this smell and sell it as a drug to him it was that good. It clouded his mind a little, louring him to the girl's bed where he sat down cross-legged and sighed contently.

"Inuyasha, do I really look different with this necklace on?"

Her question had gently pulled him out of his daze, his misty amber eyes landing on her petite figure sitting cutely in the computer chair across from him. "Hn? Yeah, it lowers your glow."

"My glow?"

He was quick to recover from the minor slip and inwardly cursed her scent for loosening his tongue a little too much. "Uh yeah, your spiritual powers glow. Your aura is dimmer now that you've got that on. You'll probably be affecting less people now with your powers."

"Oh, well that's good." She admired the fine piece of jewellery around her neck. "I wonder what kind of material this is?" She fingered it, feeling the cool and soft gem.

"Beats me." He shrugged. Maybe there was something in that weird book about the amulet. Wait.. _book_… Maybe good ol' Midoriko had written something useful in there that could help him with his problem. "Oi wench, where's that old book of yours?"

"You mean Midoriko-sama's? I left it at Miroku-san's, why?" Kagome asked.

'Damn! I guess I'll hafta wait till tomorrow to look through it. But maybe till then…' He looked up. "You still have the one the hunters gave ya?"

Kagome actually seemed to think about that for a second. She turned in her chair, the thing squeaking in protest while she rummaged around on her desk. There were mountains of papers and textbooks littering it, and it took a minute, but she found the old leather bound book the boys had given to her before they left town. "Here it is, why do you ask?"

Inuyasha scowled. "I do need something to do while you do your school work ya know."

She glared at him and tossed the book onto her bed. "You don't have to be mean about it!" She hissed, turning sharply back to her homework with a small wince. 'A crap, I turned too suddenly and hurt my stupid shoulders.' She bit back a small whimper and eyed her math work wearily.

Inuyasha observed the book on the bed, not aware of Kagome's pain. He was telling the truth about needing something to do. But he also was getting a little curious about his situation. If there was any way he could fix things with his body, he was going to find it. Then when he did, he'd rip out his brothers' throat for even thinking of leaving him to rot eternally in the Tessaiga.

'Of course that's after I have the some of Mrs. Higurashi's cooking. Heh.'

-X-

A few hours later, Inuyasha's head had shot up from the book he was reading, only to look outside into the darkness. He narrowed his golden eyes at the window and slowly stood up to look out, his ears flat against his skull and a snarl ready to roll off his lips. 'The hell is that _stench_? Somethin' is trespassing on this territory…' He pulled back some of the curtains slowly to get a better look. 'Wait, I know this stink.'

He shuttered involuntarily and looked over at Kagome briefly.

She was asleep.

But her aura… It looked to be fluctuating strangely.

He took another quick glance outside and growled, 'Shit shit shit. This can't be happening now. _How_ can this be happening?'

Dozens of small critters were littered on the Higurashi grounds. But not just your average fluffy bunny family and bushy tailed squirrels. We were talking rats, some decomposed birds and raccoons, rabbits that were dragging their carcasses and even rotting chipmunks.

They were dead.

No, not dead.

Undead.

_Zombies._

'Damn this all to fucking hell!' He ripped himself away from the window and as gently as possible, he had shaken the crap out of Kagome to wake her up. "Get up! Open your damn eyes! Kagome wake up!"

The miko shot up in her seat, yelping when a blast of pain coursed through her shoulders from the jump. "Wh-what? Where?" She looked side-to-side and breathed heavily. "I-Inuyasha! Y-you wouldn't believe the dream… I was… I was…" She blinked and took in his panicked appearance. "What's going on? Why are you looking at me like that?"

How was he going to tell her that she had risen most likely all of the dead bodies of animals on the Higurashi property without freaking her out? "Remember how you brought those spirits through earlier, you know, to exorcise them?"

"Y-yes?"

"I'm gunna need you to do the opposite of that, release them. Can you do that?" Inuyasha asked slowly.

"Mushin-shishou was telling me about that during my lesson. I-I think I can… Why do you.. ask?" She frowned in confusion.

"Just do it, okay?" He risked a quick glance at the window and then looked back at her. "Well?"

"What were you just looking at? What aren't you telling me—" Kagome stood from her seat to look out the window, but Inuyasha was quick to step in front of her. "Inuyasha, move."

"No, just do what I'm telling you to do."

"Excuse me? What makes you think you can order me around—Just move and let me look outside!" She hissed, trying to get passed him. When he wouldn't budge she had fixed him with her coldest glare, her blue eyes turning to glass. "For Pete's sake—Sit!" Once he was out of her way and grovelling on her floor, she had access to her window and looked outside to see what was so alarming to her hanyou.

She breathed in and held her breath, a scream ready to leave her lips. 'Oh god, oh my god. Wh-what.. Oh god..' She shrieked, but only managed to let out a bit of a shriek before a clawed hand had covered her mouth and muffled it. Her eyes were wide in terror and she was shivering all over.

"Shh shhh, just calm down." Inuyasha tried to sooth her. He only removed his hand when she was done trying to scream and carefully guided her back to the window, covering it with his body so that he could get her to focus for a second. "All you need to do is release their spirits, just like Mushin told you about. Can you do that?"

Kagome shook, her body covered in goose bumps. "I-I think… But how did this… My dream… These… Oh Kami.."

"Calm down Kagome and just close your eyes."

"Th-there's z-zombies out there! Th-they're coming after m-me!"

"Damn it Kagome! Just shut your eyes and focus! Only you can get rid of them." Inuyasha barked.

She snapped her mouth shut and nodded her head meekly, tears forming in her eyes. "Can you support me? I just need you.. Behind me while I do this." She asked, bleary eyed. Kagome was granted this request and was now standing in front of the window with Inuyasha behind her. Her back was flat against his chest while his arms looped around her waist. The miko's eyes had closed and she had begun to focus on the small army of rodents and corpses dragging their way up to her house.

Their decomposed flesh trailing behind them.

Their bones scrapping against the cement.

Their screeches of pain as they pulled themselves forward.

'_Stop!'_ That little voice in her head shouted. _'Focus.'_

'R-right.' Kagome breathed in deeply and out. She imagined them clearly with their souls leaving their broken bodies behind and moving onto the afterlife. She pictured shoving them behind the veil like she did earlier when she pulled the teens from the veil. She mentally apologized for putting these little critters through pain and continued to release them.

'Release…'

'…Release!'

"Kagome? You're doing great, just a little more." Came Inuyasha's encouraging whispers.

'Just a little more…'

The hanyou behind her let out a sigh of relief and rubbed small circles on her waist. "It's okay, they're all gone now." He assured her.

When she opened her eyes, she could see that her front yard was still littered with bodies. But now they were just unmoving. She had let out her own sigh of relief, wiping the sweat that had formed on her forehead from concentration. "How did this happen?" She asked aloud.

A snort came from behind her. "I blame Mushin. He shouldn't have brought up any necromancy stuff with you when you can barely control your spiritual powers."

"B-but, you don't understand. Sure he talked to me about it and the book, but how could this happen? I was dreaming about raising the dead, dreaming! This was exactly what happened. Well, not exactly. I only raised one zombie, but still! I know I have spiritual powers, but can a Miko really do this? Could I have really done… this?"

'She dreamed of raising the dead?' Inuyasha thought in shock. That would explain the fluctuation in her aura when he began to catch the scent of all the corpses. 'But if all it takes is a simple dream of raising the dead, then this means I've got my work cut out for me. Damn it. If Mushin had kept his damn mouth shut, he wouldn't have planted these thoughts into her head and gotten her to raise the dead, _by accident_.' He mentally cursed. 'She's also looking a bit suspicious about all this. She may not believe so much anymore that she's only a Miko...'

"We'll deal with all this crap tomorrow when we go to your meditation session." He let go of her and stepped back.

"W-what are you going to do?" Kagome stuttered out.

"What do you think? Someone has to clean up the mess out front. I don't think your family is gunna be impressed with this." Inuyasha glowered.

"Um, I'll leave my window open then. Just j-jump on the window sill when your done and I'll l-let you in." Kagome said with a hint of guilt in her voice. She was having Inuyasha clean up her messes, so of course she was going to feel guilty about it.

The ghost looked at her for a second longer before silently leaving the house. Things were getting complicating now. With the knowledge that something similar to this had happened centuries ago and ended with a war, it made the hairs on Inuyasha's neck rise. They weren't just dealing with an out of control priestess anymore. If his theories really were correct, they were dealing with the second ever hybrid to be born.

Something that would explain why Kagome's powers were so uncontrollable to begin with.

They were clashing for dominance inside her and out.

The power to purify evil.

And the power to raise evil.

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**A/N So, what do you think? Too dramatic? Haha. Better believe things are gunna get interesting… Real interesting… Read and review, eh? See you all later!**


	16. November 30th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks so much for all your reviews! They made me smile and feel really giddy when I read them. Love you guys!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 16. November 30th**

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He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to know now if what he thought was at all true. Though he was about ninety nine point nine percent sure he was right, he just felt the need to confirm it. So while Kagome still slept peacefully in her bed, Inuyasha had gotten up and stirred Souta from his slumber. It was morning anyways and close to the time he'd normally be awake so he figured this was okay.

"Ungh…" Souta moaned, opening his bleary eyes to look up at the figure in his room. "Inu—" He yawned widely. "—Yasha-onii-chan?" He mumbled tiredly.

"Get up runt, I need ya to do somethin' for me." He said gruffly, trying as best as possible to not frighten the poor kid so early in the morning. "Well?" He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms at the boy who was still blinking tiredly up at him.

Souta sighed loudly and sat up. "I'm up I'm up." He grumbled under his breath, pulling his blue bed covers away from him so that he could stand up. He stretched for a few seconds then proceeded to look at Inuyasha, waiting patiently for an explanation or some instructions at least.

"I need you to be my interpreter."

"In-t-ter..pre..toor?" Souta tried to repeat, a little confused as to the meaning behind the word.

Rolling his eyes, the hanyou had decided to rephrase that. "I need you to tell your mom what I am saying since she can't hear me right now. Can ya do that for me runt?"

"My mom can see you?" He asked, very surprised.

"Yeah, long story short she's like you, but she can't hear me and I have a really important question for her, okay?"

"And you want me to ask her the question?" He asked, trying to make sure he was understanding what this half demon ghost wanted him to do.

Inuyasha gave a strong nod, even if he was a bit annoyed at this point with the kid. "Let's go see her right now okay?"

The little boy's mother was always awake before them, and before her was their grand father. They would always be together in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the newspaper until the kids were up. Gramps would then leave and tend to his usual shrine chores while Kagome and Souta had a quick breakfast. Though usually when Souta came down, he'd already be dressed in his school uniform not his pyjamas, which brought a questioning look onto Mrs. Higurashi's face until she saw Inuyasha standing behind him.

"Ohayo, you're up early. Is there something wrong dear?" Mrs. Higurashi asked softly, being mindful not to stare at Inuyasha too long while gramps was still in the kitchen, sipping on his coffee.

Inuyasha told Souta to ask to speak with her in the living room, this way they could avoid any potential chaos developing if the grand father knew about the half demon ghost. 'I remember what Kagome said about her gramps one night. Something about him being a little off his rocker and the fact that he doesn't really have any spiritual powers.' The hanyou thought with a small smirk. The old man was pretty harmless besides that, and Kagome had said that his sutras were pretty useless at warding off anything. But she'd never tell him that.

Souta had sat next to his mom on the couch and stared at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha-onii-chan?" He asked.

"Huh?" Inuyasha shook himself out of his thoughts and smirked again. "Okay brat, here's first what I need ya to tell her. Kagome isn't going to be able to go to that school place today 'cause she's recovering from some injuries. Nothing too serious, just some bruises that won't allow her to carry her things around without feeling any discomfort. Got that?"

Souta relayed this information to his mom, earning a concerned look and quickly she glanced at Inuyasha. "Is she really okay? What happened?"

"Tell her Kagome's fine. And she probably would rather know less about how she got the bruises to begin with. All complicating supernatural stuff too hard to get you to explain to her. Better wait till _we_ can talk about it."

Souta again told his mother what the hanyou had said as best as he could. He fumbled with some of the words but managed to end everything with a smile and told her that Inuyasha could be trusted and not to worry so much. "He's really cool Mom, and he protects Kagome."

"Yes yes… I believe you sweetie. Now what is this about a question?" She asked. "Was it what you were trying to ask last night?"

Inuyasha shuffled around nervously and nodded. "Okay kid, here's the question."

Souta nodded eagerly. "Go for it!" Hey, you couldn't blame him for suddenly getting excited. It's not everyday that you're woken up by a poltergeist to translate a question to your mother who can now see ghosts but not hear them.

"Ask her about your father. More specifically, if he was a Necromancer and how he.. Passed away."

Souta scrunched up his face and turned to his mom with the important question, struggling when he tried to repeat the word Necromancer. Though his mother had helped him through it and before long she had told him to go get ready for school while she continued to speak to Inuyasha.

"B-but what if you need to me again?" Souta complained childishly.

"Then I will send Inuyasha to get you." Mrs. Higurashi answered easily. "Now go get ready for school sweetie."

With a final pout, Souta had made his way up the stairs and out of hearing range from his mother so that she could answer the question properly.

"Yes, my husband was a Necromancer." She answered almost immediately after Souta had left. "He told me about his heritage when we were still dating, just before he proposed to me actually. He wanted to make sure I knew everything about him and his life. He told me about the different kinds of ghosts, the poltergeists who could move objects while normal spirits just nagged him to no end. But he lived with it…"

Inuyasha inwardly frowned, a low growl rumbling in his chest. 'Shit, god _damn_ it!' He mentally cursed over and over again. This meant that he _was_ right. That Kagome was a hybrid, and possibly Souta too. Then again, the kid could only see him, he couldn't really manipulate or shove him away like Kagome was able to do. And his aura was actually different, much lighter than Kagome's. The reason for that might be the lack of the necromancer glow.

"He told me that this gene of his, the Necromancer ability, wasn't always passed down to your children. It could skip generations or only apply to say one child out of four." Mrs. Higurashi continued.

'That's it then. The kid doesn't have the gene. His aura's lacks the brightness that comes from being a Necromancer. So only Kagome has it. At least that lowers my worry to one person as opposed to two.' He thought with a bit of relief before continuing to listen to the woman.

The mother's face suddenly went grim, a shadow of sadness washing over her. "He told me he could deal with the spirits, that they didn't bother him too much. But I could see it all over his face. He kept looking more and more tired as they days went on. It was shortly after Souta was born that he finally couldn't bear with the pressure of these bothersome ghosts. He…" She swallowed hard and bit back a sob. "He committed suicide. Ran off the roof of a building. If it were my guess, I'd think it was because he was being chased by one of those spirits, desperate for his attention."

Inuyasha sat down next to the woman, guilt sitting heavy in his chest as he tried to comfort her as best as he could. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it'd be this bad.." He mumbled, despite her not being able to hear him at all.

The older woman had looked up, her eyes filled with unshed tears about the sore topic. She shook her head and tried for a smile while staring at Inuyasha with her loving motherly eyes. "I know you're worried, and feeling a bit guilty. But I'm sure it was for the best that you heard that story. Right? Does it have anything to do with Kagome?" She asked with a small sniffle.

He nodded at her, his ears twitching as he caught the sounds of her sniffles and her choked back sobs. He wished he could explain to her everything, but at this point it was best if she knew less. He didn't want her to worry about her daughter, and besides, she didn't have much to worry about while he was around to guard her from these annoying spirits.

"Is my baby going to be alright? She isn't being bothered by spirits, is she?" She asked a bit desperately.

'She doesn't want her daughter to suffer like her husband did.' Inuyasha thought sadly and opted to giving her one of his famous hanyou smirks. "Don't worry, I'll protect her." He said slowly, trying to mouth his words to her so that she could understand him.

"Prot..tect her?" She smiled a little more and nodded. "Yes, I suppose you will be protecting her, hm? It's nice to know… that someone as kind as you is looking out for her. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her or Souta."

The hanyou snorted. "Feh, I've got it covered. No worries." He grinned toothily at her.

"I'm glad you're here." She sighed a little, her shoulders drooping in relief. "Thank you for everything you've done for us so far, Inuyasha-san." She gave a small bow.

Inuyasha's eyes widened at her politeness towards him and he leaned back a little from her. A human, much less one who had just barely been introduced to the supernatural world, was _thanking_ him. He'd never been so honoured by anyone before. She treated him as if he were the Prince he actually was. 'She so nice, now I see where Kagome gets her natural loving trait from.' He thought, a grin still plastered on his face. "Just call me Inuyasha. Inu-ya-sha." He mouthed to her. Despite it being nice to hear real politeness from someone, he was just too used to his name without the honorific.

"Inuyasha then." She corrected, her eyes now cleared from tears. "Well, I need to make Souta some breakfast. I'll bring something up later for Kagome too. You just watch over her, okay?" With that said, she had stood up and left Inuyasha to mull over everything that he had been told.

Well, at least this meant he knew everything for sure.

And it wouldn't bother him anymore.

Well, that was a lie. It would bother him, at least until Kagome gets a grip on her powers. As for the whole destiny thing… He hoped to the gods that those stupid Hunters would be back in town soon. He was getting to be impatient and wanted some answers and for once some help from them.

'Maybe they could help solve the mystery of the spell that was used to trap me in the Tessaiga.' He thought as he dematerialized from the living room. He easily reappeared next to Kagome, the book that he had been reading sitting on the floor, open to the page he was at. So far all the thing talked about were banishment incantations and a bunch of different symbols to keep away almost any type of creature. Be it a spirit, demon, half demon, witch, monk, priestess, hunter, shaman, a sorcerer even and finally a necromancer. This book had it all and even a few tips on containing a demon or demi-demon in a cage of sorts.

'This thing is pretty useless when it comes to the seal used on me though. And even if I were to find the damn spell, there's no guarantee that it would also say how to remove it.' He sat down in front of the book and stared at it, placing an arm on his leg and his head in his hand. 'From what I can get, the kind of enchantment Kikyo used was most likely something she had cooked up herself. Something she kept for safe keeping in case she needed it.' He frowned.

If Kikyo really had made this spell herself, could that mean that she was expecting Inuyasha to crack like that at any time? Had she prepared it just for him? After all they had been through, did she not trust him _that_ much? 'Come to think of it, ever since I had first transformed into my full demon form, she had been a little more cautious around me. Different even.' He couldn't believe he was realizing this almost five centuries later.

'_Kikyo_…' He thought sadly, his ears drooping a little as he focused on the book. 'You really didn't have faith in me, did you? Even though I protected you and your home with my life you still had your doubts about me. About my _heritage_.' He shook his head and looked up at the slumbering girl before him. Not that he was completely thankful for being sealed or anything, but if it weren't for it, he would have never met Kagome.

His true mate.

In a twisted sort of way, he was thankful to be here and to be experiencing the odd sensation of actually having a soul mate. He knew that she could feel just as much as him the strange bond between them. But he was also aware of the problems that still lay in between them actually becoming a couple. It would be pointless to start anything with her while he was like this, although he wanted to _so_ much.

He didn't know when he had gotten up to sit next to her, only that she had somehow drawn him in with her abnormal heavenly scent and her beautiful peaceful face. He just barely touched her cheek with one of his clawed hands, being mindful not to accidentally scratch her while he brushed some loose hair from her face. His golden orbs drifted slowly down to her slightly parted lips, and strayed there for much longer than he wanted them to. He sunk his fangs into the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from doing what his instincts kept pushing him to do.

Kami he wanted to taste those lips. He was also very envious of the fact that his youkai counter part had been able to do so without him remembering a thing about it. 'She wouldn't even know about it. Just a little taste.' A soft voice in his head taunted him.

'Come on, what _harm_ will it do?' It taunted some more.

The half dog demon shook his head furiously and glared at some random object in Kagome's room. It happened to be one of her crazy 'sexy men' posters with their perfectly sculpted abs gleaming with sweat. He didn't see what was so appealing about that, but if she though that was hot then his built form would blow her away. He snorted and smirked cockily. Yeah, she'd be all over him if he took off his shirt and started doing some hard labour, getting all sweaty for her. 'Course I'd need my real body to actually sweat and all...' A frown twisted against his lips.

Damn, he was back to this again.

He needed to find a way to break this stupid spell!

He practically jumped off Kagome's bed to sit in front of the useless book on the floor. Even if it so far contained nothing of use to him, he needed to finish it to be sure it didn't hold a clue to this spell.

So he sat, and read for what seemed like the whole morning until Kagome started to stir. By then it was close to noon and breakfast had already been brought in by Mrs. H for Kagome about an hour ago. 'At least she's getting a solid undisturbed sleep. If a damn spirit had popped in I would have beat the crap outta it for troubling Kagome after last nights incident.' Speaking of which, another reason why he needed his body! It was so damn hard to get a hold of each and every little corpse. He suspected it was because he was so distressed about the whole situation in general and couldn't focus his thoughts on properly grabbing the things. Instead, for the most part, he had resulted in clearing them out with some demonic winds.

Pretty much upping his youki, which tossed them up in the air, and them shot them into the surrounding woods.

He glowered at the memory. To think he actually had to put so much effort into getting rid of small animal bodies. Tch, how pathetic was he?

"Mmnnegff.." Kagome's groans brought him back to reality.

He looked over at her and smiled inwardly at the silly girl. "You better get up wench, your mother brought you breakfast an hour ago." He told her loudly.

Kagome winced at the noise and groaned again. She slowly sat up in bed and stretched a bit painfully before taking in the appearance of her room. "Huh?" She turned sleepily to Inuyasha, revealing the necklace that still hung around her neck over her pyjamas. "What time is it?" She covered her mouth when she yawned.

"It's midday at least."

"But isn't it Monday?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Inuyasha asked with a short grunt.

"I should be at school…" She mumbled, though it was painfully obvious that she didn't give a rats ass about school right now. She just kept wincing and twisting her face in mild pain whenever she made a wrong move.

He rolled his eyes and glowered at her. "Don't be movin' so much if you're hurting so badly. Eat your breakfast and swallow that medicine I had her bring up for ya before I force it down your throat myself." Honestly, why was this girl putting herself through pain when all she had to do was take those two little pills to make the pain go away. He was getting all antsy with each soft gasp his ears would catch, and each twist of pain he would see in her face.

God damn! If only he had his stupid body! He'd be able to heal her that much more quickly with his half demon saliva. 'Maybe I should try to hunt down that idiot and his brother and force them to come back here. Yeah… But Kagome's seems to have a bad habit of being a magnet for trouble. I bet the moment I leave her side she'd need me to help her.' He began to fidget a little.

Finally, she had first grabbed the medicine on her night table and swallowed it, putting an end to Inuyasha's nervous fidgeting. Next she ate quickly and drank the rest of her juice. She placed her dishes back where she found them and smiled brightly at her poltergeist roommate. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

To tell her of her heritage, or to not tell her of her heritage… Hmmm.

"Once you're ready, we can go see the monk. We need that book back and I need to rip shit at that baka drunkard." Inuyasha said in all honesty, deciding to leave out the part about the whole your-father-was-a-necromancer-and-so-are-you _sort of_. Yeah, it was too early in the '_morning_' for her to actually respond to something like that, let alone take it in. He decided he'd tell her another time.

Yup.

…

She wouldn't be too pissed at him for this… Right?

"Okay, well I'll go shower then. Do you mind doing some rounds of the property to see if there are any lingering… you know…" She trailed off, looking everywhere but at him for a few minutes.

Ghosts or zombies? Heh, no problem.

'She's still a little upset about it. Even though I know she hasn't raised anything since last night. I'll go take a look around anyways, just to calm her down.' He thought, standing to his feet easily. "I'll be back soon then." He said with a comforting smirk, dematerializing from the girl's room quickly.

Kagome blushed a little and felt herself shiver from the simple smirk he gave her. 'W-what was up with that?' She carefully got out of bed and made her way to the washroom. She knew that her roommate was unbelievably hot, and that she was undoubtedly in love with him at this point. But could a simple smirk really render her to a pile of Jell-O? Just like that? 'Oh man Higurashi, you are above and beyond having the hots for a five hundred year old half dog demon.' She mentally groaned and bumped her head against the wall of the washroom.

'Kami, what have I gotten myself into? Feeling all weak kneed from a stupid smirk? He's probably laughing it up out there on how easy it is to make me blush and go into a daze from one little _smirk_.' She turned on the hot water and waited for it to warm up. 'Cocky prick.' She mentally added.

Meanwhile she undressed and took a good look at the bruises on her shoulders. They were turning from a purplish to a greenish colour, which she assumed was a good thing at this point. It meant it was healing. And her cracked bone was most likely healing just as well.

Still hurt like a bitch though.

'It's okay though, this is nothing compared to what could have happened if I wasn't saved by Inuyasha.' She smiled a little and entered her steamy shower with the hanyou continuously plaguing her thoughts.

Oh yeah, she was definitely above and beyond any normal standards of falling in love.

So what was this extra feeling that was nagging at her. The feeling of constantly wanting to jump the hanyou each time she saw him. And the weird way they could just read each other's thoughts so easily.

Did this have something to do with the whole _mate_ thing?

Maybe… Maybe she should ask him?

'I should… Later.' Kagome thought.

-X-

They arrived a couple of hours later at the houshi's place. First thing on Inuyasha's to do list was tearing into Mushin, which he _had_ almost as soon as the door had been opened. This all happened while in the meditation room, just the two of them, Kagome waiting patiently out in the living room with Sango and Miroku. He had made sure that the others would keep her busy so she wouldn't overhear anything he yelled.

"She's raised the dead, in her sleep old man! Do you have any idea what kind of crap she went through? All because you had to go and explain to her what a Necromancer can do. You _dumb fuck_!" He howled angrily, feeling his youki rise warningly around him.

Mushin merely kept that stupid smile on his face all the while he got chewed out from Inuyasha until he just couldn't yell anymore. By then the room was severely tainted with his demonic aura, but it was at least still in one piece! "Now now," Mushin shook his head. "I didn't know that this would happen. I assure you, I was merely explaining this for learning purposes. I thought it would be ideal for her to understand the difference between a Necromancer and a Miko despite the similarities." He explained.

"And look where that go us! She can freely summon _zombies_ without lifting a finger!" He snapped back with a snarl.

Mushin was giggling again, very amused with this whole turn out in general. "Do you know what this means? She is exactly like—"

"Midoriko-sama yeah yeah, I get that already. Believe me I've already looked into it. Her mother definitely has the powers of a Priestess, and her father was without a doubt a Necromancer." He interrupted the old man bitterly, turning away from him to gather his wits.

"Heehee." Mushin giggled again. "It's so incredible, the power to summon a ghost or even a zombie without the proper tools and herbs. That kind of power is _wondrous_."

"Until some greedy ghost wants it to himself!" Inuyasha added sharply. He swore again under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'What we need is a teacher. Some one who can help her develop the other half of her abilities.'

"Well, I do have some good news for you my boy!" Mushin piped brightly, as if they had never had this whole conversation to begin with. "I was looking through that book more thoroughly and caught a glimpse of what could have been used to seal you away!"

Say what?

He had turned swiftly, staring down the old man. "What did you find?"

Mushin backed up and held his hands up in defence. "Don't get too excited. I merely found what the spell _might_ have been based on. I believe your miko took the essential parts of it and added some of her own words into the incantation to create an entirely new and improved one. Unfortunately there isn't anything mentioned about breaking the curse. It's possible she again created her own and passed it down perhaps from generation to generation."

"Generation to generation huh?" Inuyasha repeated.

_-X-_

_Sesshoumaru stared blankly at Kagome, "My idiot half brother had his entire body and spirit sealed into the Tessaiga due to the fact that he had gone on a murderous rampage the night of All Hallows Eve five centuries ago."_

_"Then that means the spell to release him that I used was incomplete. I only released half of him."_

_"Correct, if he had been completely released this city would have been annihilated that very night," Sesshoumaru explained._

_-X-_

_She drummed her fingers against the picnic table, eyes constantly bouncing back and forth from Inuyasha to Bankotsu, "That's right, it's been in my family for generations. Gramps used to tell me stories about it all the time."_

_Bankotsu was deep in thought. "The Tessaiga was said to be the sword that a mighty demon was sealed in. In my family, the legend that's been passed down is that the demon was sealed on the night of All Hallows Eve, when the moon was full. We were always told that we were the ones in charge of keeping the Tessaiga from being taken and wielded by evil youkai. But we never had it, as much as Sesshoumaru-sama searched, he couldn't find it with any of our family members."_

_"Ain't it obvious? Your ancestors probably made it known that you were the ones guarding my sword so that Kagome's family wouldn't be looked at twice," Inuyasha told them in a matter-of-fact tone._

_-X-_

_"… It's possible she again created her own and passed it down perhaps from generation to generation."_

_"…generation to generation…"_

'No, it wouldn't be that easy, would it?' Inuyasha bit his lip and suddenly stormed out of the meditation room, leaving a baffled Mushin to sit in the youki filled room by himself.

Kagome had just been sitting on the couch talking amiably with her friends when her usually grumpy hanyou had appeared in front of her with a goofy grin on his face. "Uhh?" _'Oh yeah, that's a real smart thing to say Higurashi.'_ That annoying voice in her head had pointed out sarcastically. Kagome shoved the voice back and cleared her head to properly formulate a response to Inuyasha's unusual chirpy attitude. "Did Mushin do something to you?"

"I'd say someone had finally pulled that stick out of his ass." Miroku muttered dryly, ruining the mood momentarily when the half demon had shot very dark glares his way, his golden eyes promising certain death. Miroku cleared his throat in response and looked away sheepishly.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha had turned back to Kagome to explain the moment of enlightenment he had just experienced. "Do you remember how my brother explained to us about the full spell used on me?"

"Sure, he said something about sealing away your spirit and your body. What about it?" Kagome crinkled her eyebrows in confusion, trying her best to understand what Inuyasha was trying to tell her.

"The spell you had used freed my spirit, completing _half_ of it." Inuyasha informed, still staring at a blank Kagome who didn't really understand anything. He grumbled a little and narrowed his eyes at her, huffing in exasperation before continuing. "Look, what if the spell you were told about was only the _first_ half. What if the other half of it was entrusted to the _second_ family who was assumed to be carrying the Tessaiga? Kikyo could have purposefully split the incantation, the spirit portion and the body portion, in hopes that one day I could be resurrected once a solution was found to get rid of the other soul trapped in my body."

"That would mean that Bankotsu-san might know the last part of the spell." Miroku concluded.

"Because his family was rumoured to have the Tessaiga." Kagome also added, finally understanding it all. "But why would she have split up the spell in the first place?"

Miroku had contemplated that question for a moment before coming up with a suitable answer. "Perhaps she did it in case someone unintended ever managed to get a hold of the Tessaiga. If in the wrong hands, Inuyasha could have been revived to only continue the rampage he started centuries ago."

"That makes sense." Sango replied, turning to observe Kagome's reaction.

'Oh my god, this could mean that we have what it takes to set Inuyasha free!' She turned and squealed in delight at the thought of him having his body back, shocking the others with her burst of happiness. "I'm so excited for you Inuyasha!" She grabbed him and forced him into an awkward hug from her position on the couch.

Sango had coughed loudly, her magenta eyes never leaving Inuyasha's form. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this still doesn't solve the whole dilemma here. Even if we did free his body, there's still the problem about who is in possession of it. Does big bad spirit ring any bells?"

The mood in the room took a turn for the worst.

Right, what would they do about that?

"What's with the doom and gloom?" A new voice piped up innocently.

Everyone was on high alert, aura's flaring and battle stances taken. There was a new spirit in the room, a little girl actually who looked to be a bit bored with everything. She was roughly around twelve years old and had some tattered clothes and small smears of soot all over her cheeks and arms.

Inuyasha stood in between Kagome and the spirit protectively, having already decided that the houshi could take care of himself as well as the hunter. He had a snarl ready and his claws poised if the girl even remotely looked like she was going to attack his mate.

"Why do you all look so mean? Ban-Ban said you were nice people!" She accused hotly, pointing a finger at them with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Ban-Ban?" Kagome repeated behind Inuyasha. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be talking about Bankotsu-san?" She asked sweetly, placing a hand on Inuyasha's arm to calm him somewhat. She was just a kid after all.

"Ya! Ya! That's the man!" The girl smiled widely and bounced happily. "He told me to come here!" She giggled playfully, ignoring the fang bearing half demon.

"Well spit it out! What did he send you here for, you brat?" Inuyasha harshly barked.

The girl stopped her bouncing and puffed up her cheeks in a pout. "I won't be nice if you're being a meanie!" She stuck out her tongue at him, her form beginning to look transparent.

"W-wait!" Kagome held her hand out. "On-onegai, don't go. At least tell us your name!"

The girl's form solidified momentarily, her eyes focusing only on Kagome. "I'm Mayu!" She grinned again, disappearing with a wave goodbye. Though her voice echoed in the room, making everyone look around wearily. "I'll come back when you aren't mean!"

All eyes were on Inuyasha, and he knew what was going to happen next. With a small whimper he flattened his ears against his head and plummeted to the floor with a loud yelp.

'Sat again…' Inuyasha thought painfully.

"Idiot…" Both Sango and Miroku mumbled simultaneously.

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**A/N More of Inuyasha's thoughts if anything. And a little bit about Kagome's father… Good, no good? R&R!**


	17. December 1st

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks for all your reviews! A lot of them made me laugh and smile. I'm really happy you guys like this story so much, and I love writing it. So I can guaranty a constant update for a while since it's getting so good. Haha. And as a special sort of treat, this chapter is longer then usual. You can read why at the bottom of the chapter in my little note. Don't worry it's nothing bad. So yeah, oh and I hope I got most of my typos outta this chapter. No guaranties on that though. Heh heh.**

_**Review reply zone**_

**That's right. Got question? I am here to answer!**

**SO! Kissmeyasha11 asked if Kikyo was going to come back. Well to answer that, I wasn't originally planning on it. But I just might bring her in for a short little role. I haven't completely decided on it yet though. I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out eh? Haha.**

**Now on with the chapter!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 17. December 1st**

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Sixteen days till the Winter Formal Dance.

Five days since the Hunter brothers left town.

Three days since Sango's blood limit got a jump-start.

And finally, a grand total of one month since Kagome has been introduced to the scary world of the supernatural. Fully equipped with a sexy poltergeist guardian demon, a holy monk, and a newly born hunter.

Oh wait.

Of course we forgot to mention the bigger matter of it all is the fact that she, as in _the _Higurashi Kagome, is some freakishly juiced up priestess akin to the energizer bunny. That's right. You read right. Her powers could keep going on and on and on… If it weren't for said _powers_ as well as her silly schoolgirl curiosity, she would most likely be living the normal student life of a teenage girl. In addition to that, she would be worrying about one main matter of it all at a time like this.

The Winter Formal.

But of course she wasn't a normal girl anymore. So she couldn't worry about trivial matters like the Formal until the actual date of it came up. Till then, she gets to meditate daily with an old drunk, read mouldy books and hunt ghosts and goblins without getting paid. Hur_ray_.

"Ack—Jeez—Inu_ya_sha! Stop that!" Kagome scolded, grabbing her history textbook from mid air and yanking it back down on her desk to continue her homework. She had skipped two days of school due to her injuries on her shoulders and luckily for her, she had an admirer who would drop off her homework from school for her. Well actually, it wasn't luck at all. She'd rather have one of the girls bring her school things, but nooo. Instead she had a blushing-and-a-little-too-bubbly Houjou-kun at her doorstep now for two days in a row while Sango had the real luck of having the girls get her homework to her.

It's like ever since Bankotsu-san has been out of town, Houjou-kun has been trying to grab as much of Kagome's attention as possible. If the boy didn't cut it out soon and read the obvious sign that basically said in neon letters above her head that she was_ not interested_, then he'd end up with a pissed off poltergeist haunting him over the holidays. Speaking of that certain ghostly roommate of hers…

She pulled another textbook from the air and placed it on her desk, turning to give Inuyasha her darkest glare. "I swear I'll—"

The hanyou held up his hand in a surrendering fashion and scowled at her. "It ain't me doing that wench! There's another ghost in here—"

An echoing giggle quickly confirmed the half demons statement before he even had a chance to finish speaking.

"See? Jesus… baka…" He muttered under his breath.

Although she hadn't heard the insult, she had actually muttered her own back at him causing him to grin somewhat before she turned her attention back on the still invisible ghost. "Ano, could you please stop moving my homework? I need to be using my books."

"You're wastin' your breath wench. She's already gone." Inuyasha pointed out none too friendly, obviously getting yet another round of glaring daggers at him. "My guess is that it was that girl, Mayu."

"Mayu-chan?" Kagome perked a little in interest. "But she seemed friendly. I thought only temperamental ghosts could lift objects and whatnot. But she was… well doing it for fun."

"You're right. She isn't like the others. What she's doing is too easy by her standards." He replied, stuffing his hands in either of the sleeves of his red haorie. "I think that she's one of those psychics, ya know, the ones who can moves objects?"

"A telekinetic you mean?"

His dog-ears perked. "Is that what they're called now?" He shrugged. "Yeah, she must be one of those. Probably why that hunter sent her here to begin with."

Kagome nodded and stared at him for a while, a little deep in her own thoughts. That poor girl, to have died at such a young age was horrible. Judging by the soot on her she most likely died in a fire of some sort. She did have a couple of burns, but not many. Maybe then by smoke inhalation? Still…

"What's so sad?"

His voice was so close to her, she hadn't even realized she had gone so deep into her thoughts. When she blinked back, her beautiful blue orbs had quickly focused up on Inuyasha's closeness. She even felt him dab away something from her cheek. Wait, tears? Was she crying? "N-nani?" She blurted, a bit confused.

"You just said, _'That's so sad'_ and started to cry." He shuffled a bit in his spot, trying his best to mask his worry with a scowl. "The heck has gotten you so tearful?" He grumbled, dabbing away more tears with his red sleeves.

She blushed a bit and smiled at his kindness, her eyes warming. "I just realized how young she was. How unfair it is for her to be dead when she barely even started to live. I think it's sad." Wow, she really was crying. Great, how attractive did she look right now? Big, red puffy eyes, a snotty nose and her mascara most likely leaking down her face. Damn, she really should have invested in the waterproof kind instead of cheeping out. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Inuyasha huffed above her and crouched down to her level, carefully gathering up her tears in his sleeves as well as her makeup. "Look Kagome, I know you're wishing that this didn't happen. But you need to understand that this is how the world works. Shit happens. Then you get over it. Life goes on. The kid is still hanging out here, and she doesn't look to be upset about her death, more like she's havin' fun with it. So don't worry." He tried for one of his rare smiles. "She knows she can come to us when she needs to. And if she wants to talk about it, she will. Till then, you don't have to cry, alright?"

This was almost the most she had ever heard come out of Inuyasha's mouth that didn't come with a crude remark slash insult. He was actually being pretty sincere to her, and was truly trying to comfort her even though she most likely looked like a half drowned raccoon with her wrecked makeup. "Arigato Inuyasha." She really wanted to hug him, but with her sitting in her chair, and him crouched as he was, it would have been one of those awkward hugs. Something her shoulders wouldn't take a liking to.

"Feh." He brushed it off as nothing and stood, secretly feeling very proud of himself for having made his mate feel better. 'At least for now anyways.' He thought. His hanyou ears tweaked towards the window when he heard the distinct sound of a car door closing. Wait no, two car doors closing. Kagome's window wasn't open, so he couldn't quite smell from this distance who it was that was coming up the shrine steps. 'The hell? That Hobo guy already came here, and Miroku doesn't drive one of those metal—_cars'_ He corrected. 'He doesn't drive a car. So who..?'

He turned fully to Kagome's window and walked up to it, picking up the sounds of a cheery woman's voice and… the other voice was so low, almost purposefully low.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome had just finished blowing her nose and attempting to wipe away the rest of her tears when dog boy had turned to her window.

He motioned for her to keep quiet, narrowing his eyes on the steps of the shrine. Somebody was trespassing on his territory, and it irked him that he didn't know who it was. Damn this cold weather! If only the window was open just a little bit, he could catch a scent! His hackles were rising and a snarl was ready at his lips when his golden eyes had spotted across the property, in the dark of night, the first person to end up at the top of the steps.

A woman.

She looked familiar in a way; her hair was long, black, and a bit messy. Brown eyes, bright smile. But where did he know her from?

He froze and stood his ground, a combination of a vicious snarl and growl escaping his lips. "_Sesshoumaru_."

Kagome jumped a bit. "Eh? Sesshoumaru-sama?" Aw crap, why in Kami's name did she have to bawl her freaking eyes out the moment before some great full demon arrived at her house? 'Mirror, I need a mirror, stat!' She mentally screeched in horror, standing to walk quickly to the washroom. She knew she heard a muffled 'God damn, get back here Kagome!' from Inuyasha, but ignored it in favour of looking better for their soon to be guest. Like hell she was going to look like a drowned raccoon in front of Inuyasha's brother!

She was applying her mascara when Inuyasha had poofed angrily into to washroom behind her, his ears constantly moving while his eyes darted from the stairs to her then back again. Kagome ignored him calmly as to not poke her eye with the black brush of her mascara, smiling prettily when she was done. Now she looked like her. A little bit flushed, but other than that, she looked normal.

"Kagome!" Her mother called from the stairs. "You have visitors!"

Hell yeah! Just in time!

"You aren't going down there." Inuyasha said quickly.

Kagome put the mascara back into her makeup bag and turned to him with a raised brow. "If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn't go to the trouble of knocking on my door before coming in Inuyasha. Let's go, I don't want to keep him waiting."

"Them."

"Heh?"

"Them." Inuyasha repeated. "There are two. Sesshoumaru and a woman."

"Oh." Kagome shrugged and nodded, walking down the stairs with Inuyasha right behind her. She could feel him getting a bit antsy, knowing that he disliked being surprised like this and her possibly being in mortal danger and all. 'He's getting worked up over nothing.' She mentally sighed, but plastered a bright smile when she met the two visitors in the living room.

Sesshoumaru was sitting a little too still on their couch, most likely cause he's not used to such a small living space. His office was bigger then half her house so she could only imagine how big his living room was compared to hers.

Sitting next to the inu youkai was a happy looking woman who was only smiles when she spotted Kagome coming into the room.

"Hello again, Sesshoumaru-sama." Kagome bowed respectfully.

He nodded back in acknowledgement. "Good evening."

"I'm Rin!" The woman next to him suddenly bursted, introducing herself with another wide smile. "Nice to meet you Kagome-chan! I'm Sesshou-kun's assistant!"

Sesshou-kun?

She heard a snort of mild amusement beside her and shook her head at Inuyasha. "Be nice." She growled at him.

"I assume my half brother is here as well." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes on the space Kagome had been glaring at.

"That's right. He's like my guard dog. Knew when you were coming." Kagome laughed a bit, at least getting a bit of a giggle from Rin. The boys on the other hand didn't seem to like her little joke. … Stuck up dog demons…

"Here's some tea for you both." Mrs. Higurashi came into the living room with two mugs of hot tea and placed them on the coffee table in front of the guests. She was thanked by the perky Rin before leaving to tend to other duties.

"Wow, this is really good." Rin remarked, blowing a bit on her tea and taking another long sip.

Kagome nodded as she took a seat in one of the other chairs in the room. "Mama puts in a bit of honey when she makes tea. And she like to mix a couple of flavours together."

"Do you think I could get a recipe? This is so yummy!" Rin leaned down to place the mug back on the table, her blouse opening a bit more then it should have been, allowing a certain hanyou to catch a view of something on her chest.

"Shit, that's his mate!" Inuyasha cursed with a bit of a jump.

Kagome jolted next to him and shot a glare. "The heck was that for? And what do you mean by that?"

"The girl! Rin, I knew I recognized her!" He said a bit more to himself now. "She's that bratty girl that used to trail after my brother back in the Sengoku Jidai. He must have discovered that she was his mate and marked her."

Kagome puffed up her cheeks in frustration. "Okay buddy, you are loosing me. What do you mean she's from the Sengoku Jidai? She's human isn't she? And what mark?"

From the couch Sesshoumaru had smiled a bit smugly before having it drop to a frown. "Yes, she is my mate. And if you ever glance down her shirt again, _mutt_, I swear to you that you will come to regret it."

"Bite me, ass wipe!" Inuyasha snarled back.

"That was uncalled for!" Kagome snapped at Inuyasha hotly.

"Who cares? He can't hear me anyways!"

"Apologize!"

"He _can't _hear me!"

"Oh _Kami_—SIT!" She bellowed, positive that the two on the couch felt the floor vibrate from Inuyasha's face plant. "Stupid, immature mongrel.." Kagome muttered under her breath for only Inuyasha's ears to catch.

"Anyways!" Rin piped, clapping her hands together. "Me and Sesshou-kun are mates, and this is the mate mark that Inu-chan was talking about." She pulled back a part of her blouse so that Kagome could see. Just above the girl's left breast was what looked like a faded blue crescent moon tattoo. "This connects me and Sesshou-kun even more as mates. That's why I'm still alive and look like I'm twenty-five. I age just like him." She jabbed her thumb in Sesshoumaru's direction. "When Inuyasha chooses to mark you, you'll probably get a tattoo too!"

Kagome blushed scarlet. "Wh-what makes you think that Inuyasha and I…" She trailed off, looking away from the hanyou on the floor. He was probably just as beat red as her. Or maybe he was too proud to let himself blush.

"Aren't you? I mean, Sesshou-kun talked to me about what you did at his office." Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Only a mate could have the ability to calm a raging demon. No ordinary human could do that."

"Enough Rin." Sesshoumaru spoke up, calmly taking Rin's hand and squeezing it affectionally. "We seem to be making Higurashi-san uncomfortable with this conversation."

"Gomen." Rin apologized. "I didn't mean to pry, heh heh."

Kagome waved it off. "It's okay… But uhm, out of curiosity, I thought you were supposed to be out of town by the end of last week. So what are you doing here, in my living room no less, if you don't mind me asking?"

Inuyasha lifted himself from the floor and rolled his shoulders a bit, growling and cursing all the while. Then he stood next to the sitting Kagome, glaring a bit at the fact that his brother was holding hands with Rin. 'I swear he's trying to provoke me… Dick.' He quickly glanced at Kagome's free hands wringing themselves nervously in her lap. With a small huff he sat down, leaning against the chair for some support while one of his hands was placed over hers, effectively calming her. She even linked one hand into his while the other dug into his hair and pet his silver ears. 'Oh Kami... She can't be doing this to me now… I gotta be on guard.' He mentally whimpered.

"To the point, are we?" Rin giggle.

"Y-ya." Kagome stuttered sheepishly.

Sesshoumaru had briefly taken mental note of Kagome's actions, developing a mental picture of his brother sitting on the floor in front of her. 'In denial of their natural bond? Perhaps she is still too embarrassed about her emotions…' He thought. He kept his cool gaze steady on the girl, and spoke smoothly. "Insignificant setbacks occurred at my new branch. I was forced to remain behind longer then intended. However my effort was not fruitless. I had Jaken request a book to be delivered to my office from our home in the West. It arrived this morning and we came here to deliver it to you."

Hurray, another mouldy book for her to read! Wasn't that _wonderful_? Note the sarcasm used.

"A book? For me?"

"Hai." Sesshoumaru smiled a ghost of a smile. "I became aware of your odd ability when you first arrived in my office. I had recalled seeing it somewhere before, and grew curious. I had this antique book brought here and it confirmed my suspicions about you. You are exactly like the woman my father fought along side with centuries ago."

"You mean Midoriko-sama? The priestess?"

Uh oh.

Inuyasha visibly flinched. He knew what book his brother was talking about now. It was the same one he had studied before he was kicked out of the Western Lands. This shit for brains was going to ruin all the damn effort he put into keeping this whole necromancer secret from her! 'Shit, shit! Damn him! I'm going to get _sat_ for this. She is going to send my soul to the underworld!'

"So you know of her?" Sesshoumaru smirked, much like Inuyasha would. "I see, so you were told of your birthright."

"Well, my family does come from a line of priestesses. So I guess that's how I got my spiritual powers." Kagome said slowly. That was what he was referring to, wasn't he? Her spiritual powers?

The full demon blinked inquisitively. "I suppose you were not made entirely aware of your full heritage after all." He told her.

Inuyasha cringed. 'Why the hell did he have to stick his damn nose into our business? Go rot under a rock you arrogant prick!' He mentally yelled, hoping that his brother would get the message.

"What do you mean?"

"As I said before, after you left my office I was interested in your family, but more specifically, you." He replied smoothly. "Not only did I ask for the book to be sent, but I also required records of your family history."

Rin giggled. "It's so weird. Sesshou-kun told me you looked like her, but I didn't believe him! But you do, you look like Kikyo-sama."

Kikyo… The woman Inuyasha was fond of once upon a time?

"Yes, as it turns out, you are her descendant. Thus the similarity in your appearance." Sesshoumaru added.

She felt like she had been slapped to the face. She knew she looked a bit like this Kikyo person, but was it honestly that bad? And now she finds out she's her descendant? Related to the woman who was sort-of-unofficially-in-love-with-Inuyasha _Kikyo_? That Kikyo?

Not even noticing the already shocked girl, Sesshoumaru continued anyways. "It was very interesting discovering this, and the fact that your father was a Necromancer. Yes, this proved that my theory was correct about you the moment you stood in my office. You are the second woman to ever hold the clashing powers of a Miko and a Necromancer at once. Just as Midoriko-sama had centuries ago, and for this power to land in the lap of Kikyo's descendant..." He snorted in mild amusement.

Between the times he called her Kikyo and treated her a bit like crap for thinking she was just like her, he knew he was in for shit now. It made sense to find out she was related to her now. On top of that, she was now made aware of the reason why she was so unnaturally powerful.

"I'm a Necromancer?" Kagome mumbled a bit in disbelief.

"Only half." Rin corrected.

"My little brother…"

"He's not a Necromancer, only has a bit of spiritual powers in him." Inuyasha answered before he could stop himself, flattening his ears against his head a bit.

Kagome stood up quickly, letting go of Inuyasha's hand as if it burned her skin. "You knew!" She accused him in a shrill shriek.

Sesshoumaru's mask of seriousness had cracked a bit in surprise at the girls outburst and the accusation. From what he could tell, Inuyasha was a bit more intelligent then he had first thought. 'Ah, I see now. The fool didn't wish for her to know about this information. Well, that would be his own fault. He should have been honest with his mate.' He thought with a bit of a snort.

"Look, can we talk about it later I don't think—"

"Oh no you don't! We are talking about this now!" Kagome growled in a very inhuman way.

"Looks like this is our cue to go!" Rin laughed nervously, standing quickly and pulling Sesshoumaru to his feet. "We'll just let ourselves out."

Sesshoumaru didn't really want to leave at this point. He hadn't seen his brother get chewed out in ages. That and he felt that he should inform him more about his current condition. He rolled his false purple eyes and grunted at his mate. Before leaving he put down the book he had talked about and gave Kagome one final nod and a glare in Inuyasha's general direction. Then he was out the front door, Mrs. Higurashi waving from inside the house.

"Come again soon!" She shouted with a smile, closing and locking the front door.

Back in the living room Inuyasha was still sitting on the floor when Mrs. Higurashi entered and ushered them to go upstairs and not forget their book. There was no way they could have an argument in the living room while Gramps was still loitering around somewhere. He really did not need to be made aware of this stuff.

"So?" Kagome pressed, still beyond furious with Inuyasha. She couldn't even sit still in her desk chair. She had to stand up to keep from loosing her mind while Inuyasha sat on her bed with that whipped puppy look all over his face. She growled again and turned around, pacing her floor. She caught small glances of the book she had hauled upstairs that sat innocently on her desk. It looked to be just as old as the one written by Midoriko, also leather bound and yellowed with age.

"I didn't know you were related to Kikyo." Inuyasha mumbled, though she had heard it just fine.

Kagome crossed her arms stubbornly. "Is that so? Well I'm sorry if I find it a bit difficult to believe you right now!" Her body was already surrounded with a thick aura, her emotions adding to her uncontrollable abilities.

What could he do to make it up to her? But more importantly make her understand why he kept this from her even if it was only for a day or so? "I did this to protect you. Because everything I do for you is to _protect_ you." He confessed. Though he felt the surge of power shortly after his confession, his senses beginning to go into overdrive.

She shook her head, feeling unaffected from this statement. "Heh, yeah sure. Protect me you say? What the heck would you be protecting me from anyways? Something like this should have been said. You should have told me you knew about my father and this Necromancer thing. It would have made much more sense to me. I could have learned—"

"But that's it!" Inuyasha interrupted, standing from the bed. "You are still just barely learning how to control your spiritual powers. Hell even now, with all this meditation you've been doing, you are still letting too much of your aura increase when you get pissed off. It's hard enough standin' in this room without getting fried! Throwing a new power into the mix would have been too hard for you to handle at this point." He backed away from her, holding back a wince. "With everything else happening around us, I didn't want anymore pressure to be put on you. I would have told you eventually, when I knew you were ready to continue—"

"You still should have told me! You—you stupid—Grr, Inuyasha! Do I _look _like a porcelain doll to you? I'm not! I'm a tough girl! Mushin-shishou could have helped me through this, even back when I raised those zombies! If I had known about this before, Mushin-shishou could have taught me how to control my ability!" As she spoke, her voice raising more and more with anger, so did her crackling spiritual powers.

"Don't you get it?" Inuyasha stepped forward, flesh from his cheek already burning away as well as around his knuckles. "That drunk is only knowledgeable when it comes to spiritual powers. He doesn't even know shit when it comes to Necromancy! You need a Necromancer to teach you these things, something that is very rare to find. Their kind where almost completely wiped out centuries ago. There's hardly any left! Who could have taught you any of this right away? _No body_!" He barked.

"I bet you're exaggerating!" Kagome hissed.

Damn, his skin burned like a bitch and his inner demon was whimpering in pain. He was getting his ass purified on the spot by her. 'I can't stand in here for much longer.' He desperately felt the need to collapse, but there was no way in hell he was going to do that in here. "Why the hell would I be exaggerating at a time like this? Fuck Kagome, I mean what I'm saying. I'm not lying!"

"Okay, so if you're not lying right now, mind telling me if what Sesshoumaru-sama said was true? Do I really look that similar to her? To Kikyo? Is that why you're around me all the time? Because I'm the replacement? Hm? Are you toying with my feelings and pretending to like me because of my appearance?" Her words were like acid. Her body was beyond glowing, whips of spiritual powers swirling and crackling around her threateningly.

'She thinks I like her because of Kikyo? Is that what she really… No, I don't! I…' He never responded to her, the feeling of his demon blood burning in protest against the overpowering pressure of power, making him groan a bit in pain. 'Shit… I can't…' His knees felt weak, and his vision was getting dotted colourfully. 'No, my soul its—'

She took his silence as an answer. "You bastard, this _is_ why! This is why you're around me? You… Get out of my house! Get. _Out_!" She shouted, giving him a mental push.

In reality, she had given him a bit more then a mental push. It felt more like she tossed him into the air effortlessly. He had flown out of the house so quickly that his dotted vision had turned into bright stars. He hadn't felt pain like this in ages. Nor had he felt this kind of light headedness since his battling days in the Sengoku Jidai. And that was only when he would loose too much blood.

'_Kagome…_'

His ears twitched and his nostrils flared when he caught the distinct scent of rotting flesh and shuffling noises. Just as he flew clear across the Higurashi property and all the way off and beyond it. With one final push of energy he had forced himself to disperse into the air and reappear elsewhere.

If he were in a body right now, he would be coughing up blood and most likely be holding his gut to keep his organs from falling out. That was the only time he had ever bled so much after a battle. He snorted at the memory and stared up bleary eyed at Miroku. Heh, so he made it after all.

"Inuyasha? What happened? W-wait, Inuyasha!" Miroku looked a bit alarm.

"Hou…"He mumbled before everything went black. When was the last time he had blacked out like this? Out of pure exhaustion?

"Damn, Inuyasha!" Miroku shouted again. Next to him, Sango crouched and watched as well. The ghost had just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the hallway floor. His face had burn marks and his hands and feet were looking similar. When he had actually first appeared, he had to do a retake to actually realize that this was Inuyasha. Because lying before him was not a half demon ghost, but a very human looking one. Black hair, purple eyes, no visible claws or fangs and certainly no dog-ears.

Sango gasped. "What could have done this?"

Miroku shouted again at the unconscious ghost and cursed. "I don't know. Possibly a surge of spiritual—" He cut himself short and quickly looked at Sango.

"You think she's in danger?"

"With the way he's looking right now, I'd say she could have destroyed any demon within a ten mile radius." He grit his teeth. "Inuyasha needs to wake up to tell us what's happening before we step into something we're not supposed to."

Inuyasha's face cringed, and he let out a groan of pain. If he had his normal ears, they would be twitching in their direction. "Get… Houshi get… Mushi—" Inuyasha let out a fierce yell of pain.

Sango was already up and getting the drunkard. Hopefully he wasn't too bad tonight and could help them out. She had been careful not to grab him, but the objects around him to force him to move his old ass more quickly to get to the human turned ghost. When he arrived he had gasped in amazement before settling his face into a serious frown.

"What happened my boy?" Mushin asked.

Inuyasha barely opened one purple eye to look at him, his body shaking all over. "G-get to… Ka-K'gome.. She…Necr… o… mance… raised animals—piss…d off—"

Mushin furrowed his brows. "A surge of spiritual powers must have done this to him. She's angry. And…" He tried to bring Inuyasha's words together. "She raised the animals again from their graves?"

"Y…yea… kno the pow—wers.. She knows about her dad." He finally forced out.

"Oh dear." Mushin sat back a little nervously.

"What does he mean?" Sango bellowed.

The two healthy teens looked expectantly at the old man. "Well, it means that Kagome's knows that she is half Necromancer. She most likely found out at an inopportune time and is very upset."

"She did this because she was upset?" Miroku pointed to Inuyasha.

"Well, essentially, yes. That and she raised yet again every dead animal on her property and most likely stirred some spirits at the cemetery a little ways away from her shrine considering the extend of the damage done to him." He pointed idly to the weak human ghost.

"What do you mean, yet again?" Miroku narrowed his eyes.

"Go now! G-get to her!" Inuyasha croaked weakly, closing his eye and letting out a strangled cry of pain.

"I will explain on the way. For now you call on that Kouga fellow, have him here immediately while we deal with Kagome!" Mushin ordered fiercely, his usual bouncy old man façade quickly replaced with a very serious face.

They didn't even wait for Kouga to arrive. They had just left the door unlocked and taken off to Mushin's old car. Miroku had his beginner's licence, which wasn't much, but it meant he knew what he was doing. Before they knew it, they were at the Higurashi Shrine and running up the steps like the wind. Even Mushin was keeping up with them, and he didn't even have a bottle of sake to receive from this tedious work out.

Once they reached the top of the steps, the blood had drained from the teenager's faces while Mushin remained perfectly fine. He had seen many gruesome things in his lifetime. He could deal with a small army of dead animals no problem. It was the human corpses that worried him. From what he could tell there weren't any. She may have just stirred up some more ghosts, but other than that, they were only dealing with animals.

"Miroku-chan, you go and calm her down. Can you see that glow from that window?" Mushin pointed to the far off house that was a little further down. With all this darkness, you wouldn't have found it if it weren't for that bright pink beaming light. It rivaled the brightness of a lighthouse with its intensity. Well, to the trained eye it was anyways.

"I-is that h-her?" Miroku asked.

"Yes, hurry now. Do what you must, she needs to be calmed before she worsens." Mushin had sent him off and then turned to Sango to give her orders. "We need to clear these animals before anyone else sees them."

"N-nani?" Sango's face turned an odd colour of green. She had to pick up those half decomposed things? This old man was crazy. There was no way she was going to do that. "You're out of y-your mind. I'm not about to touch—"

"Sango-san."

She stopped her babbling and huffed loudly at him. This wasn't going to be fun, but he was right. They did need to do something before someone saw this and freaked out even more then them.

"Fine."

-X-

To the normal human eye, you wouldn't be able to see anything besides a dull glow coming from Kagome's room. For a human to actually see even the slightest glow of a miko was incredible enough. It meant that the concentration of energy was strong enough for any person to see, not just those who were supernaturals.

She wasn't aware of any of this, as she sat on her floor, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking herself slowly. She didn't know she was causing such a fuss, only that she was really upset with herself, and felt betrayed by the only person she thought she could completely trust.

She didn't know that she had raised an entire forest of critters again.

She didn't know she stirred hundreds of spirits nearby from their peace.

And she sure as hell didn't know that due to the mixture of her powers that a barrier had formed outside her house burning up any of the corpses that got close enough. Turning them to harmless ashes.

She was hurt. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest at the smallest thought of him. She hadn't even registered the arms that had wrapped themselves around her shoulders, and squeezed. Not until she heard another voice had she woken from her painful trance.

"Kagome-chan, are you okay?" Miroku asked softly.

She lifted her head slowly, her tear-stained cheeks glistening with her natural glow. Gently, she shook her head and stared at Miroku with her broken blue eyes. "I—I.." She gaped for a few more seconds and closed her mouth. What could she say? She could barely speak. She felt so tired and drained. Her night was awful, and kept getting worse. She looked down briefly at the amulet around her neck, the rock feeling a bit warm against her chest.

"Everything will be alright Kagome." Miroku brought her a bit more closely to him, giving her a half hug. "Just calm down and take some deep breaths."

She sighed against him and buried her face into his chest. She felt so gross right now with all her makeup running down her cheeks for the second time that night. "I'm s-sorry." She apologized, unaware of the dulling glow around her.

Miroku was quick to notice the light dying down in the room, and the retraction of her spiritual aura. He didn't know much about necromancy, but he figured it would take more then her calming down to get rid of the creepy crawlies outside. "Kagome-chan, I was told you had the power to bring forward the dead, and reanimate their bodies." He began.

Kagome nodded against him. "I didn't m-mean to. It just h-happened." She hiccupped.

"Are you able to return them as well?" Miroku continued.

"Y-yes." Kagome pulled away from him and looked down at her amulet. "I didn't… Did I do it again?" She asked carefully, almost afraid of hearing the response. Her fears were answered when he nodded and looked up at her window with a bit of a frown. "I d-didn't know. G-gomen nasai." She sniffled again. "Gomen nasai."

Miroku shook his head and rubbed her shoulder again, being mindful not to harm her. "Don't worry about it. Mushin and Sango are helping. All you need to do is reverse what you did." He said casually with a smile, brushing off this incident as nothing serious. 'She can't know how serious this is. Not now.'

"I-I can do th-that." Kagome mumbled, grasping her warm pink amulet between her fingers. She closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on letting whatever was lurking out there free of her hold. It wasn't till later on, when she had fully calmed down that it was safe for her to leave her room and follow Miroku to his car. She left a note on the fridge saying she'd be back tomorrow morning. Right now though, she needed to be surrounded by her friends, and she knew that Sango needed to constantly be watched. So the only choice was going to Miroku's place for the night.

However she had no idea what laid ahead for her. She had absolutely no idea Inuyasha was already there, writhing in pain. She had no idea what damage she caused to his soul, only that he had disappeared when she yelled at him.

Mushin, Miroku, and Sango had silently promised not to let Kagome be aware of his presence in the house, at least not tonight. They didn't want to risk upsetting her again. To their surprise, she had only sat on the couch for a single second before she passed out in pure exhaustion.

And thank the gods for that, because now that she was out like a light bulb she couldn't actually hear Inuyasha upstairs letting out yelps of pain. Once the three were sure that the miko was comfortable on the couch, they had rushed up the stairs into the guest bedroom to see how the human poltergeist was doing.

"How did you manage to bring him up? We can't even touch him because he's so weak." Miroku asked curiously.

Kouga sat beside the bed in a chair, his charm disarmed so that the others could see his wolf demon features. "Some little girl came out of nowhere and she moved him in here because she felt bad." He shrugged a bit. "I didn't question her. Then she left."

"Mayu-chan." Miroku mumbled.

The older man had worked his way around the bed on the opposite side of Kouga. He placed his hands over Inuyasha and glowered. "Can you feel that Miroku-chan? His demonic half has taken quite a beating."

The houshi nodded. "If it weren't for the fact that he was a half demon, he wouldn't be here right now. His human side actually came in handy and protected him from completely being purified."

Kouga grumbled something under his breath and looked up sharply at them. "Will he be okay? He's been like this since you guys left. I don't know how much more yelling I can take at this point." He rubbed his ears, but glanced worriedly at his hanyou friend.

"That is entirely up to him. It will take some time for his demonic half to heal itself. Something like this could take anywhere from hours to days. For now, only time will tell…" Mushin replied gravely, sighing loudly. He never knew that such a commotion would happen from keeping a teeny tiny secretly from Kagome. Though he didn't really know the whole story, so he couldn't quite place all the blame on the girl. In fact he couldn't really blame her at all. She didn't know any better. She still wasn't used to her powers.

This just meant that they'd have to increase her training to prevent such a thing from happening again. He stared blankly outside the guest bedroom window, observing the weather. How fitting, the first of December and it was snowing outside. Big, fluffy snowflakes.

"Let's go look after Kagome." Sango whispered, tugging on Miroku's sleeve to pull him out of the room. This left Kouga to keep watch on Inuyasha while Mushin turned in for the night.

The ookami simply let out a bit of a groan and made himself comfortable in his chair. It was going to be a long night for him. Didn't they realize he had to go into the school to teach in the morning? Stupid ningen… His ears would be ringing all of tomorrow.

He sunk his fangs into his lower lip and chewed it in thought. He wished he could do something. Be more useful. But he couldn't. He wasn't a healer. He was a demon. 'Sorry buddy, but the rest is up to you.'

Inuyasha let out a low whimper then howled loudly, his body jerking up off the mattress and crashing back down roughly. The burns hadn't healed at all, and he had become non responsive ever since the wolf youkai arrived on site. Thank god the little girl was there to help him out a bit. Otherwise… Well Inuyasha would still be on the floor in the hallway downstairs.

"Come on puppy. You're stronger then this."

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**A/N So I made this longer for two reasons. One, I thought it'd be too cruel to just cut it off after Inuyasha got his ass blown out of the house. And two, because the next chapter will be extremely short because it will only be Inuyasha's perspective of things. Kinda like a field trip inside his head. So I want it separate from everything else. Sound fair? Okay, well I hope you guys liked this! Remember to R&R!**


	18. Unknown Time Frame

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks so much for your reviews. I'm glad so many of you like my story. And I'm sorry I didn't update earlier. I moved to another apartment and the Internet didn't get hooked up till today (Thursday) so I couldn't update. I suppose I could have walked over to the school with a flash drive and bummed one of their computers, but I'm too lazy for that. Haha. Either way, thanks for the reviews! And now…**

**Review reply zone**

**That's right. Got question? I am here to answer!**

**SO! Kagome'sdaughter asked how Inuyasha's knows Kagome is his soul mate. Well pretty much he's found out that she smells way better than anyone he's ever cared for, Kikyo included. He also feels a very intense connection with Kagome even though they've pretty done absolutely nothing to forge such a connection. Haha, so yeah.**

**On with the chapter!**

_"Kagome's voice"_

'Inuyasha's thoughts'

"Inuyasha's speech"

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 18. Unknown Time Frame**

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Where was this?

Everything was so dark and numb…

The only things that shone were the stars in the sky. So many brilliant little dots hanging high above him, some partially covered in smoky clouds while most remained bright.

'So beautiful…'

A gust of wind tousled his dark bangs from his lost amethyst-grey eyes, the breeze providing neither warmth nor cold. It was just air capable of moving his hair, and not nearly strong enough to carry his clothing into it. Not that it could happen considering he was lying down flat on his back, simply staring up at the glittering stars.

He didn't know why but… He was lying in a pile of snow. The ground was covered in it and yet he couldn't feel its blistering cold temperature seeping into his skin. This place he was in, it wasn't normal.

It didn't feel real.

What was this place?

'The last thing I remember is… That overpowering heat, the blinding pink light and… talking to someone.' He blinked slowly, observing the sky. This place felt almost familiar, like he had been somewhere similar to this before. This numbing sensation of loss. He knew it well. 'Just like when I was first sealed into the Tessaiga. It was just like this. Except I was floating in darkness. With only my own thoughts to keep me company.'

_"Gomen nasai… Gomen nasai I-In-Inuyasha…"_

He again blinked slowly, a mumble of a voice disrupting his peaceful silence. 'Who was that?' He thought with a small frown.

Maybe… maybe it was someone who knew him?

Soft steps jostled him from his thoughts, the human not even aware that the other person had gotten so close to him in such a small span of time. 'I guess that's what happens when you have human senses. You can't hear a damn thing till it's too late.' He shifted his eyes to the newcomer, not even flickering once in fear or astonishment.

Simply emotionless.

It was another man, one with silver hair and golden eyes. His face bore dark bluish, jagged stripes as well as his wrists, and his clothing were exactly as his own.

Dark red haorie and matching hakama's.

But something was very wrong. Though this man looked similar to him, he was also unfamiliar and most of all, barely even visible. He was very transparent, as if holding on to his existence by only a thread. 'Is this me? Is that me?'

"We're the same." He responded out loud, staring down at Inuyasha with his dark amber eyes. He sat slowly, crossing his legs and placing his hands in either of his sleeves. His hair was braided back, unlike the dark haired human laying in the snow, and his human ears slightly pointed as opposed to being dog-like atop his head. "Well?"

The Inuyasha laying on his back continued to stare blankly before speaking. "What do you mean _'we're the same'_? We can't be! I'm clearly solid, and I'm human. We are not the same. I am Inuyasha!"

The barely visible man snorted and glared. "Obviously. But so am I. I am Inuyasha. I am you and you are me." He withdrew a hand form his sleeve to stare at it solemnly. "The only reason why I'm not solid is because I'm weak. I barely survived without you to protect me."

It was as if a light bulb had turned on in his head. He knew now who this person was. "You're my other half. My demon blood." Inuyasha spoke. 'I remember now. Heh to think my human half would come in handy for once? This is a change.'

"Hai, that is what I am." He sighed and replaced his hands into his sleeves sluggishly. "I was separated from you during the purification process. If it weren't for you, I would have been completely destroyed. But you saved me."

"I did huh?" Inuyasha shifted his purple gaze so that he could look up at the stars again. "I don't know how I did it, but I'm glad." He admitted.

"So am I. This means we can remain in existence. Well, we can continue to remain in existence once I heal. Until that happens, we'll stay as we are, separate from one another." The transparent demon Inuyasha said, a grumble of impatience laced into his voice.

_"Onegai, Inuyasha, come back to me. On-onegai…"_

The human Inuyasha heard a small whimper from the other, raising a brow in question. "Do you recognize that voice?"

The youkai Inuyasha growled at the other one and glowered. "Don't you know? Remember? She is our woman. The one who sent us here. She's in pain and waiting for us to get back."

'The one who sent us here huh?' He mentally repeated, searching his memory for that persons face. A flash of black hair and blue eyes appeared in his mind, her joyful smile forever imprinted in his head. _'Kagome…'_ Her name echoed into his mind, over and over again. Her small smiles, her giggles, and her clumsy moments replaying again and again. "She keeps calling us." He spoke in a bit of a slur.

"Yes." The youkai Inuyasha answered with a small noise of discontent. He wanted to go to her, comfort her as a mate should do. But he couldn't. He was stuck here, trying to heal himself after such a strong attack. "She wants to see us."

"How do we get back?"

He rolled his golden eyes and stared at the motionless human Inuyasha in the snow. "I already told you, I need to heal before we can return. Until I am visible again, we're stuck here listening to our mate call to us."

"Well why the hell do we have to go back together? Why can't _I_ leave?"

"Because." Inuyasha answered with a rumble. "You can't return as a human. If we ever want a chance at life again, we need to go back as a half demon. Not a full demon, or a human. But a _hanyou_. Our soul needs time to mend itself. Once that's done we can merge again together and return to our _mate_." He explained harshly, his eyes flashing briefly red.

"A hanyou? Feh, what could be the worst that happens?"

The youkai turned away from him, his voice grumbling in annoyance. "Not only would you only be a human soul. But if ever our body were to be set free of its curse, possession and all, we would go mad with power. Without me there to balance our soul out, our body would go berserk. We would die and never be able to return to the living world again."

"Well ain't that just _swell_."

_"I didn't mean to, I swear. I was so angry and felt so betrayed. I didn't know what I was doing. I-I d-didn't know."_

If he had dog ears, they would be drooping right about now.

"She sounds so sad." Ningen Inuyasha remarked softly. "Isn't there any way to speed up this whole healing thing?"

"Mm, no, not that I know of." He stared at his transparent hand again and grunted. "We need time. In time, I will be myself again."

"Damn it all." The black haired man cursed, staring up at the starry sky angrily. They needed to do something. Hell even something to pass the time. He couldn't really move, but at least his form was solid unlike his youkai counter part that could move freely, but was barely in existence.

'I'm going to lose my mind soon.'

-X-

He didn't know how much time had passed. The stars didn't change, and he couldn't see any moon hanging in the navy sky either. He just laid there, waiting, hoping this torture would end sooner rather than later. His other self wasn't at all entertaining either, which left him to be bored out of his mind for the most part.

_"I went to school today… Kouga-sensei's been light on our homework. I think it's because he knows how crazy our lives are right now…"_

Damn that baka ookami youkai. He bet that he wasn't just keeping her homework light for that reason. 'Probably sucking up to her.' Ningen Inuyasha thought with a sneer.

"Though he's incredibly cocky, wolf bag wouldn't be that stupid." Youkai Inuyasha piped up sincerely. "I think his intentions are right." He was still pretty transparent, but not as much as when he originally appeared. His form was slowly returning.

_"I've also been training more with Mushin-shishou. I meditate for three hours a day now and I-I'm even learning how to control my emotions! S-so… so you'll be okay around me. I promise this w-won't—"_

It crushed him to know that she was feeling such pain all because of his moronic idea of keeping the truth from her. He shouldn't have kept this secret from her at all concerning her father and her Necromancer abilities. Damn, how did things get to be this bad? 'She can't even speak properly without crying or hiccupping.' He inwardly whimpered, the guilt sitting heavy in his heart.

_"A-ahem… gomen, I'm telling you about my control over my emotions and here I go and start crying. Ha…Anyways, Miroku-san is also looking for a necromancer teacher for me. We've even asked for Sesshoumaru-sama's help to find one. Seeing as this is a bit of an emergency and all."_

Was involving his half brother really necessary?

This had both Inuyashas' in a growling fit. Neither very appreciative when it came to their older brother. "There's no way he would help us unless he wanted something in return."

The other youkai Inuyasha shuffled in his seat in the snow. "He's sticking his nose in other peoples business on purpose. He should know better then to trespass into our territory."

"Keh! He doesn't give a shit as long as we're like this. Floating spirits in limbo. Until we get our body back, this territory is fair game to him." The human Inuyasha barked, clenching his hands.

The youkai Inuyasha sighed loudly, his body hunching over in mild defeat. This was taking too long for him and the human him. They needed to merge again, and fast! Without them back in the human world, it left Kagome unprotected. 'Damn it all, I need to heal faster than this! Our mate needs us. So maybe… maybe if I try to increase my energy, I can heal sooner.' He closed his amber orbs in concentration, trying his best to raise his youki slowly.

"W-what are you doing?" Human Inuyasha craned his head up to see his counter part surrounding himself with his aura.

"Trying to get us out of this hellish place faster."

"I don't know if you should be doin' that." The black haired man pointed out nervously.

"Does it look like I care what you think?" Youkai Inuyasha snorted, continuing to ramp up the power at a slow pace.

It was shortly afterwards that ningen Inuyasha winced and yelped loudly in protest. His skin burned painfully as the aura expanded slowly over his body. "Stop that! You're not helping anyone!" He cried again in pain, feeling his lower limbs sizzling.

The silver haired man stopped his actions with a glower, the thick cloud dispersing harmlessly. Some of his form had returned with the gentle increase of his aura, but not by much. Something that wasn't worth trying again if he was only going to damage his other half with his youki. "Damn it all." He cursed, tightening his fists.

"Dumbass…"

-X-

More time had miserably gone by in silence. Though the two half souls discovered that they didn't need to speak aloud to one another. They were perfectly just fine with thinking instead, their minds already connected. Call it laziness. They just didn't have the energy nor the patience to speak out loud. This world was also driving them mad, the youkai Inuyasha having pointed that they had created this place in their subconscious a long time ago. This was their save haven from the world. This was their mind.

'A place that even Kikyo couldn't reach.'

'Only our mate can speak to us in here. She's the only one with the deepest connection to us.'

'Now I can see why we created this place. It's so peaceful. It can only be this quiet during the winter.'

'It was always easier to relax in the winter. We could hear from further away due to all the hibernating animals. It would get to be so quiet not only at night but even in the day. We could spot dangers from miles away.'

'I miss that, in a way. But I also like this new world we're in with Kagome. I'm curious about it.'

A cool gust of wind alerted the two souls immediately that something was nearby. Their bodies had pulsed in reaction to the disturbance, the youkai Inuyasha standing to his feet quickly in a battle stance. The wind that caressed them had a feel to it, something that wasn't possible in this place. Something else was causing this chill. But what could have the power to enter his mind and manipulate it like this?

_"Huh? The clock stopped working."_

Human Inuyasha gasped and shot a look to his counterpart. "We've got some serious company."

"I'm well aware moron. I can smell her getting closer." The youkai hissed, his hackles rising. "Looks like we might've accidentally attracted her with my little experiment."

"Great, let's just put an even bigger target on our heads 'cause maybe the one we've got ain't bright enough!" The ningen snapped, struggling to try and move his body from the fluffy white mountains of snow. I was no use though. His body was stuck to this spot while his other half struggled against his instincts to attack. The thing that was coming, that brought the cold with her, and stopped time. There was nothing in the world that could do that except for one thing.

A Reaper.

_"M-Miroku-san! Inuyasha is fading! Quick, Miroku-san! Mushin-shishou!"_

"Your soul is much more unique than I thought it to be." An emotionless voice spoke, a white clad woman now standing next to the two boys in the snow. She was very pale and thin, faded blue eyes paired with long pale blond hair, and a long ragged gown that gently billowed up and around her due to her aura. This revealed that she was barefoot in the snow, and had marking running up the sides of her legs.

"Piss off, we don't need you here." The youkai Inuyasha barked, his amber eyes flashing red.

The girl twisted her head to look at him, her lips twisted into a frown. "You do not have a body, and your spirit has been severely damaged, yet you wish to remain here? In limbo?" A long scythe appeared between her thin fingers, the curved blade gleaming in excitement.

"Just 'cause we're like this, doesn't mean we won't get better!" The black haired man spat from the ground.

"You are nothing but a lost soul. The afterlife is waiting for you, Inuyasha." The woman said, her dull blue eyes boring holes into the males' amethyst-grey orbs.

"Feh!" The youkai regarded the Reaper with a stony look. "Reaper or not, you can't take us away."

"You are a soul—"

"Woman, we have a body. It just isn't accessible yet, but it will be. Till then, why don't you go make yourself useful and bother some other ghost that actually needs to cross over?" He flexed his barely visible claws threateningly, letting a growl rumble through his throat.

She blinked slowly, taking in the information the youkai told her. She wasn't happy being mocked or yelled at by these simpletons, but they did have a point. "You are infuriating, boy, but I will leave you in peace for now. Your body is still available, yes, but the moment it is not, I will be there to drag your soul into the afterlife."

"Like ya did with those four annoying brats? Heh, I'm shakin' in my boots." Youkai Inuyasha snarled.

"The Reaper with the charge of those humans was foolish. Rest assured I will not make the same mistakes." She promised, sudden winds increasing around her body until it completely engulfed her. She had disappeared in the flurry of wind and snow, leaving a few white feathers behind in her place.

The human Inuyasha let out a breath he had been holding, and glared evilly at his youkai half. "Were you fucking out of your mind? Challenging a Reaper? You asshole! We could have been yanked into the afterlife 'cause of you!"

The youkai sat back down into the snow, his shoulders slumping tiredly. "Heh, well I had to do something. My instincts were howling to get rid of her. If we were back together, we would have done the same. It can't be helped. We're not ready to leave the world of the living yet, not while we know our mate is there waiting for us. I wasn't about to let that shitty Reaper take us away without a fight!" His eyes flashed again red, his aura increasing as well as his form solidifying.

'He's right, I'm not ready either to go anywhere now that I've found Kagome. K'gome…' A bubble of warmth sparked inside his chest. 'Kagome.'

_"W-wait, he's looking more opaque."_

The youkai snarled viciously, his inner animal showing itself for once. Red eyes, glowing amber aura and ferocious barks shook his form, his once transparent looking body pulsing with his aura. His soul slowly mended itself, solidifying with every pulse that shuddered through his body. The snow that used to fall slowly around them increased till it was a full-blown blizzard; the stars no longer visible but covered in dark stormy clouds.

He looked down at his counter part, fearing the worst. "Damn it! If you don't settle down you're gunna rip me apart dumbass!" The black haired man shouted above the storm. However even as he was yelling, he could feel the power within him increasing too. The warmth that now enveloped his body was shielding him from the storm as well as allowing him to sit up in the snow. 'What the hell is happening?'

The blizzard dropped around them, leaving the black haired Inuyasha to stare at the youkai version of him. Again, he didn't know what the hell was happening. Just that his counterpart had suddenly gotten pissed off and at the same time so did he. Maybe it was because of their need to see Kagome again. It fuelled them both to increase their own natural power.

The human part and the demon part.

Was this really happening?

_"His hair! It's getting l-lighter."_

The youkai pulsed, as if his entire body held a heartbeat. His eyes had closed from the earlier demonic winds and storming weather. Now that everything had settled, he slowly opened them, revealing the same colour of eyes as his demonic aura. The innate aura before it had been tainted from the possession of his body. Though he was not completely healed, he was almost completely solid and feeling much stronger than he had moments ago.

"We need to get back to our mate, and protect her."

The human Inuyasha grinned at him, rolling back his shoulders in a mild stretch. "I couldn't agree more." He stood easily, dusting himself off as his mirrored self stood similarly like him.

_"His demonic aura is getting stronger."_

Youkai Inuyasha stepped forward into the snow, his body glowing differently now and lighting up as bright as all the stars above. The ningen Inuyasha was the same as he also took a step forward, and when they were nose to nose glowing as they were, their forms shimmered and merged together.

In a bright, blinding light, a shadow of a man stood.

The snowy clearing he stood in dispersed around him, the stars no longer visible, no bare trees or silent night. Just darkness, a pit of darkness that wanted to swallow him up before he could escape from it. 'I won't let it.'

_"Inuyasha."_

Because she was waiting for him to wake up.

Kagome.

A speckle of light opened up above him, her voice getting louder from that direction.

Mate.

He looked up and shuffled around the darkness, a slow smile warming his lips. She was there, so close to him. His dog-ears twitched upwards to her voice, the hanyou crouching eagerly. 'Here I come.' He flipped his head up before giving a fierce push, bounding upwards towards the light in one single leap.

_Kagome!_

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**A/N Well? Wadja think? His mind is pretty weird huh? I mean who imagines a snowy place as their save haven from the outside world? … Not me of course… Cough cough… Anyways, I hope you all liked this field trip inside the Inuyasha's head. It is meant to be short like this and strictly in his mind. So the next chapter will be back in the real world and a bit longer. We'll get to see every body's reaction and their story. Till next time! R&R!**


	19. December 6th and 7th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thanks for all your reviews. I appreciate them a lot! I probably won't update for a little bit since I'm gunna try and update my Zombie-Loan fict next. So be patient with me okay? Thanks!**

'Thoughts'

_"Flashbacks"_

_Ba dum_** is like that heartbeat you see in episode one of Inuyasha? You know when he gets unsealed. Lol. Work with me here! Ha ha**

**On with the chapter!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 19. December 6th and 7th**

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She had been worried sick about him. Ever since Miroku had broken the news to her a day after her recovery, she had been at his bedside. Aside from school, she had never left Miroku's house. During that time not only had she been with Inuyasha but she had also been with Mushin-shishou, training vigorously to control her emotions and powers. She had made a vow never to let anything like this happen again. She promised never to hurt her Inuyasha ever. Again. 'I promise.' She silently vowed once more.

_"…It's hard enough standin' in this room without getting fried!"_

She shuddered from the echo of the memory.

'Gomen nasai.'

He had told her that she had been hurting him, and she ignored him entirely. 'It's all my fault. He tried to stop me, but I was being stupid.' She shook her head, forcing back her tears. He could very well disappear from this world, and it would be her fault. She was the worst person in the world.

'Gomen nasai.'

But despite feeling this way, feeling at fault, she couldn't help but be selfish and want his return. She wanted him to come back to her. To still care for her like he did before. 'I know I'm selfish, but I can't help it. I do love you, so please come back…' She curled her hands into the sheets of the bed he was lying on, barely visible.

_'Gomen nasai.'_

If he could just come back, and give her time to explain to him how wrong she was. How sorry she was.

_"…With everything else happening around us, I didn't want anymore pressure to be put on you…"_

He had been looking out for her. Preventing terrible things from happening, she gets that now.

_"Why the hell would I be exaggerating at a time like this? Fuck Kagome, I mean what I'm saying. I'm not lying!"_

She knows that now too. She knows she can trust him. She's always known that. And what did she do? Accuse him of liking her because of her resemblance to Kikyo. But she knew, she knew that it wasn't her similarity that kept him attached to her. It was much more than that.

His torn up face flashed in her mind once more, the miko slash necromancer whimpering at the sight that she had caused. Of course most of those injuries had sewn themselves back together by now. Albeit not as well or as quickly as it used to when he was a half demon spirit, but at least they were closed and only bright red marks now.

'You know better than that. You know that this is just proof of how weakened he is. He can't even heal simple burns. Because of you.' She thought darkly, her eyes shadowing over with heavy guilt.

Miroku walked into the room to check on her and Inuyasha, a grim look on his face as he watched Kagome struggle to keep her emotions in check. 'Poor Kagome. She didn't deserve this. And neither did he for that matter.' He held in a small sigh, pulling a chair next to Kagome. "He'll be fine you know. He's very stubborn and won't let a thing like this keep him from you."

She didn't answer at first, thinking that all this silence had caused her to forget how to speak. Eventually she did find her voice, though not as cheerful as before and barely even above a whisper, she spoke. "I know, but he looks like he's getting worse." She murmured back, never looking away from her slumbering human looking ghost. "Inuyasha…" She mumbled in vain.

Miroku opened his mouth to say something when a pulse of energy had washed through him. Both he and Kagome had frozen in place, another wave of energy similarly passing through them. 'W-what was that?' He slowly turned his head to look down at the poltergeist on the bed, his eyes widening. "He's…" Heck he didn't know what was happening. Was this natural for a demon ghost to have a pulsation?

_Ba dum_

.

_Ba dum_

Kagome gasped as another wave of power hit her, forcing chills to run up and down her spine in delight. Inuyasha's body was pulsing oddly with a dark amber aura, something that felt so warm. Like the sun. Was this what his demonic power truly looked like when it was untainted from the possession? "M-Miroku-san, l-look. He's—" She stuttered in shock and swallowed hard, her once dull blue eyes welling up with hope. "His hair! It's getting l-lighter."

_Ba dum_

Miroku nodded in response. "Can you feel that too?" He asked, another rush of warmth surging through him.

Kagome observed as the hanyou's once weakened body, which had barely been a flicker at one point, completely solidify. His mane of hair continued to pale severely until it lightened to glowing silver white. A fresh wave of amber thumps pleasing the girl. "I can feel it." She smiled, small tears of joy leaking down her cheeks. "His demonic aura is getting stronger." She sniffled, watching as his human ears pointed until they slowly moved up atop his head as dog-ears. "H-his ears! And claws—" She couldn't finish her sentence, and simply decided to shake her head in disbelief.

He was coming back to her.

_Ba dum_

He was actually _coming back_.

"_Inuyasha_." She whispered in a call, hoping that he could hear her. 'Onegai…'

"He's healing suddenly so quickly." Miroku remarked in awe, observing from beside Kagome as the once hanyou-turned-human-and-back-to-hanyou-poltergeist began to stir. 'He's really okay. And he's waking up.' He felt a rush of relief and joy, his brightest smile gracing his lips.

Kagome had tears prickling at her eyes again, and her hands covering her mouth to muffle her gasps. As soon as the pulsing had ceased the glowing aura had dispersed. Inuyasha was now sitting up in front of her, blinking slowly and flexing his claws experimentally.

He was back.

He was _really_ back with her. 'Oh…Inu_yasha_.' She half expected him to run his claws through her for what she did once he'd take notice to her presence. But he didn't. Instead he sat and stared at her uncertainly, his silver ears twitching as he caught all the noises in the house. "I-Inuyasha." She choked out finally, holding back more tears.

The hanyou's ears drooped a little, his orbs glittering with guilt. "Are you still mad at me?"

The miko shook her head, her hair bouncing around her. "N-no! I-I'm just so glad—so glad your back! I-Inuyasha!" She didn't have to think twice before she threw her arms around him and pinned him to the bed in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry for this! I'm so sorry!" She kept repeating over and over again despite it partly being muffled in his red haorie. And she even continued to do so until her voice could only mumble it coarsely between soft sobs.

Inuyasha's cheeks burned a bit in embarrassment, but he enjoyed the weight of her against him nonetheless. He had wrapped his arms around her petite figure and squeezed her to him, rubbing small circles on her back. "I'm fine wench, don't cry. You told me you were learning to control these emotions." He mumbled with a bit of a laugh.

"Y-you h-heard all that?" Kagome croaked, pulling her face away from his shoulder to look at him in surprise.

He nodded. "Yeah, I could hear your voice. It would come and go, so I wouldn't catch everything." He shrugged a bit. "Either way, it's not like I've been out of it for long, right? Maybe a day at most."

"Try five days Inuyasha." Miroku made them well aware now that he was still standing in the room, and watching their displays of emotions for each other with a hidden smile.

The half dog demon sat up a bit while keeping a firm hold onto Kagome. "What do you mean five days? How in the hell has it been five days! It didn't feel like it was that long—What day is it?"

"Sunday December 6th."

Holy shit.

Had she really knocked him out that badly?

No wonder Kagome was wreck. She probably thought she killed him in some way.

"Fill me in on everything that's happened while I was out, Houshi." Inuyasha said in all seriousness. He needed to know who had been taking care of Kagome while he was out, and how badly the supernatural occurrences had been without him. He needed to make sure Kagome wasn't seriously hurt just because he had a stupid weakness that prevented him from protecting her.

Miroku chuckled at the enthusiasm. "Gladly."

-X-

"Nani!" Inuyasha's voice bellowed throughout the empty household. "What the fuck could they be doing that could possibly take this long to handle? What kind of pansy Hunters are they!" Inuyasha roared angrily from the bed, though being mindful not to harm Kagome by holding her too tightly.

Miroku chuckled lightly, shaking his head at the temperamental hanyou. Oh how he had missed this… "Mayu-chan said that some sorcerers had attempted to trap a demi-demon to harness its power. A witch had come by and set the demi-demon free before the ritual could be finished. This opened a small crack connecting the underworld to ours." He sighed loudly, turning to the window to peer outside into the calm and frozen world.

The half demon's ears perked at the news. If he had a heart, it would have been skipping in his chest right now in fear. His breath would be lodged in his throat. The blood drained from his face. Yet he was not alive, so none of these symptoms occurred. The only thing that could show just how shocked he was was the expression on his face. "Tell me, _Houshi_, that they closed that _damn_ gateway."

"O-of course they did." He swallowed hard. "With the help of the witch, they were able to close the crack in our dimension. But not before a few rogue youkai got out. That's why they're taking so long. They're hunting quite a bit of escapees right now." Miroku informed with a bit of a squeak in his tone. He was pretty nervous right now, mostly due to the fact that something like this occurred so close to home. The Hunters were after all just a city or so over.

In his lap, the half-miko half-necromancer girl chewed her bottom lip in worry. "We also know how Mayu-chan died and how Bankotsu-san stumbled on her." She leaned away from Inuyasha's chest to look up at him with her sad blue eyes. She successfully caught his attention, parts of his silver mane brushing up against her cheek. "Sh-she did die in a fire due to smoke inhalation. She started the fire because of her powers suddenly developing and overpowering her small body. She panicked, hid in a closet while objects flew around. A fire was started, and her mother and brother got out of it in time. But… she didn't."

"With all the demons recent escapes, Bankotsu-san and Jakotsu-san looked into the house fire, finding Mayu-chan as opposed to a demon." Miroku continued. "Since she understood them, I suppose the boys began to feel bad for her. She started to cling to them instead of moving on and then became their messenger. There's not much to tell after that."

Hell had been opened up. Demons were on the loose.

One could easily possess Kagome if she ever removed her amulet.

And lets not get started on the fact that there were most likely several new demons wandering around these parts.

'God damn it. Shit!' Inuyasha mentally cursed repeatedly in his head. "Alright then, tell me. How far have you gotten in your training? Has there been any word of another Necromancer around?" If those Hunters did not find every rogue demon, which they most likely could not do fast enough, the next best thing would be making sure that Kagome was strong enough to protect herself and her friends.

"How did you-?" Miroku scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion.

"I told him, when he was out." Kagome answered. "I blabbed a lot when it was just the two of us. I ended up telling him about Sesshoumaru-sama." She blushed a bit, looking away.

"Oh." Miroku nodded slowly. "I see, well that makes sense. Ahem… We haven't found a Necromancer as of yet, but Kagome-san has been learning, very well actually, how to control her spiritual powers. She's improving quite a bit."

Inuyasha looked down sharply at the crimson girl in his embrace, squinting his eyes to look at her aura. Well then, what do ya know, the Houshi was right after all. Kagome actually had a firm hold on her miko aura. It wasn't sloppily flowing out of her body like it had been in the past. 'She's been taking her training seriously after all.' He thought with a grin, giving the girl a bit of bump with his nose against her forehead lovingly. "Good job K'gome." He purred. "You're starting to control it well."

"She even took down a demon by herself." Miroku added with a big smile. Though it had been wiped straight off his face when Inuyasha had sent him a very dark and very evil glare.

"What? You did what!" He bellowed again, baring his fangs at the Monk. Had this twit purposely placed his mate in harms way simply to test her abilities? Or were they attacked? Shit, this all happened while he was out? Why couldn't he have woken up earlier!

Kagome shot Miroku a look that clearly said 'shut the hell up!' but alas it was too late. Inuyasha had wanted the full story from them, and he had gotten it. Basically they had been walking back from Kagome's to the Monk's place when a possessed human attacked them. Inside was the soul of a demon that had provoked Kagome into using her powers, and that's when she had pretty much purified the demon completely from the human's body.

"I thought about pulling out its soul, but then I remembered that it would probably get away. So I um, I focused my powers and, I think I killed it." She looked up at her silent hanyou, placing a hand on his cheek. "I told you, I'm not completely helpless you know." She smiled more when he had laced his fingers into her, leaning more into her hand.

Miroku had walked the two out of his house so that they could return to Kagome's for the evening. To the hanyou's surprise, the ground had a thin layer of snow covering it, proving just how long he had been absent for. He even noticed how cold his mate looked, feeling pretty shitty for not being able to do much to warm her up. 'No body heat, no way to keep her warm. Damn it all…' Inuyasha thought bitterly, looking away from her in a pout.

Once they arrived, Kagome had been more than happy to create a barrier to allow Inuyasha inside the house and welcomed him into her room. Though as much as she had wanted to continue talking to him and snuggling with him, she needed to do homework. Which she did. And much to her surprise, he had actually hovered around watching as she wrote equations and read up on her history as if he wanted to remain in close contact with her. It was cute really.

Later that night, they had gone to bed. Well, they were both in bed, but Kagome was still barely awake and talking with Inuyasha. She told him how Sango was teaching herself how to control her strength and her instincts. They had done some research on her kind and just based their knowledge on that until the Hunters would come back. In return, Inuyasha answered her questions concerning mates, and their marks. Something they would have discussed had Inuyasha not fucked up when it came to keeping secrets from Kagome, and landing himself in a tight situation for a while.

"Personally I don't know what kind of mark I'd leave behind. I'm only a half demon, so unlike my brother who is represented by a crescent moon, I don't know what signifies me." He sighed loudly, staring up at Kagome's ceiling. "You should get some sleep now. You have school tomorrow."

"That's true I guess. But I'm afraid of waking up in the morning and finding out that this was only a dream." She twisted around to peer at him anxiously. "Will you still be here?" She timidly asked, her sky blue eyes glittering with what little moonlight shone through the window.

A strong urge to please and protect him mate had overcome him. He would never let them separate again, not without a fight anyways. And he'd damn well do his best to keep her happy, only getting her riled up once in a while to see her angry blush. So he replied by nuzzling his nose into her hair and breathing in that intoxicating scent. "I wouldn't leave this place for the world." He felt her relax against him, content with his answer.

"Oyasumi." Kagome mumbled into his neck tiredly.

"'Night." He whispered back, keeping an eye on her and the movements inside the house for the entire night.

-X-

The next day at school, something very strange and yet satisfying had happened. During Kouga's teaching course, or more specifically Kagome's class, the daily lesson had been very deafeningly interrupted by a high-pitched squealing voice. Come to think of it, Inuyasha hadn't really taken the time to wonder exactly what had become of this woman during his time sealed in the Tessaiga.

"Kouga-_kuuun_!" The howl came again, along with loud thumps and echoes of questioning student's voices in the halls of the school.

Although Inuyasha had pinned his ears flat against his head, he was sporting the fullest arrogant grin of triumph. 'This'll show the mutt where his true loyalties should lie.' He thought with a snort.

Kagome meanwhile took this large distraction to whisper down to Inuyasha what all the commotion was about. She had noticed how rigid her sensei had gotten upon first hearing his name being sung in the halls. But now he looked positively horrified. She had even caught him sneaking glances at the windows a couple of times. They were on the fourth floor of the building, and there was no possible way a human could simply jump down unharmed and proceed to run. So that was out of the question.

"That would be Ayame… She's what you could call the original member of the fleabags fan club." Inuyasha answered for her.

The door to the classroom had been slammed open roughly, a woman clad in a gray business suite, with long red hair and beaming green eyes standing in the doorway, successfully blocking all exits. "Kouga-kun! Is this where you've been hiding? It's so pretty here! Oh is this your class? They are just precious!" She piped excitedly.

As soon as she had slammed that door open, his textbook had dropped from his hand as well as the piece of chalk he had been holding onto. "A-Ayame-hime, you shouldn't be h-here—" He was interrupted by a bone crushing hug from the woman, gasping when one of her squeals rung in his ears painfully.

All the students watched in bewilderment as their sensei was squeezed to death in front of them. Some of the girls glaring in jealousy while the guys chuckled and nodded at their sensei in approval. Kagome was probably one of the only ones feeling sorry for her teacher because Inuyasha sure as hell wasn't. He just kept on laughing and laughing, telling him that he deserved Ayame's attention.

"I missed you so much!" She rubbed her cheek against his and smiled all big and happy. Until, that is, her eyes had finally honed in on Kagome and next to her the sitting Inuyasha. Without thinking, she had pulled away from Kouga ever so slightly to look at Inuyasha more clearly. "Heh? Inu_yasha_? What are you doing here?" She asked aloud, now receiving all kinds of a looks from the students.

Before she could make matters worse, Kouga had cleared his throat and free one of his arms from Ayame's iron grip. "Cl-class is dismissed! Just remember your projects are due tomorrow!" He shouted above Ayame's head, a sliver of relief showing itself as the room cleared out swiftly. Once the door had closed behind the last student, Kouga had torn himself away from the crazed princess to inhale deeply.

Kagome still sat at her desk with a bemused look on her face while Inuyasha now stood next to her protectively. Since Ayame had spotted him, he figured he'd make sure the wolf demoness didn't accidentally squeeze the life out of his soon to be mate. She did tend to get a little over excited around new people. "Ayame." Inuyasha greeted with a small nod. "Still chasing after Kouga are we?"

Ayame giggle sweetly. "I think I've worn him down! He'll marry me any day now!"

Kouga snorted and glared away, a faint dust of blush against his cheeks. "I've held out for five centuries. I can make another." He stated haughtily.

Observing blue eyes had seen the blush on the ookami's cheeks, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. 'Looks like he's trying to ignore his feelings for her. Maybe Inuyasha and I can help with that.' She thought, shooting a glance at Inuyasha's back. "So, Ayame-san is it?" Kagome stood up, pushing back her chair and brushing her skirt of the wrinkles. "I'm Higurashi Kagome, dozo yoroshiku." She gave a short polite bow.

Ayame narrowed her eyes on the black hair blue eyed girl, standing at her desk in seconds with her glaring green orbs. "Ka-go-me huh?" She examined the girl more, raising a brow at the growling Inuyasha. "Hn? You're not dating _my_ Kouga-kun, are you? Because I don't take a liking to competition. I tend to wipe them off the map."

Inuyasha snarled at Ayame's threat, lifting Kagome and moving her behind himself protectively. "Don't even start, Ayame. She's mine."

The girl was slightly taken back, but recovered quickly. "She better be, Princy, 'cause like I said, I don't take well to girls trampling on my territory."

"Ayame-hime, I think I can speak for myself." Kouga tried to argue, shooting glances at the partially hidden Kagome with a small whine. "I enjoy Kagome-san's company. Don't you dare scare her away."

The red head was up in Kouga's face now, nose to nose with him and jealousy blazing in her already green eyes. "You would mate with a mortal over a princess?" She yelled.

Kouga backed away nervously. "I-I d—didn't _say_ that—"

"Oh yea—"

"Ayame-san, you don't have to worry. I'm with Inuyasha. He's my boyfriend. So you don't have to worry about Kouga and me. Honest." Kagome lied quickly, blushing a bit when Inuyasha shot her a look. She could have sworn it was some male ego thing of approval, making her squirm a bit under his intense gaze.

The princess raised a questionable brow, her eyes still sceptical about the matter. "Is that so?" She muttered in a rumble.

Kagome plastered her brightest and most convincing smile possible, even going as far as grabbing Inuyasha's hand and leaning into him. 'See, we're together. Just believe we're together and Inuyasha can simmer down and you can walk away happily ever after with Kouga-sensei.' She thought.

"_OH_ KOUGA-KUN!" The red head suddenly screeched, wrapping her arms around Kouga's neck and hugging him tightly. "We can get married tomorrow and settle in, I'll have your pups—" She babbled on and on with hearts floating about all around her figure as she throttled the other ookami in a hug.

"H-hime—" Kouga choked out helplessly, looking at Kagome and Inuyasha with a pleading gaze.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, tugging Kagome by her hand out of the room. "You're on your own flea bag. She's your mate after all." He drawled, grinning at the now glaring Kouga. That said, they were out of the room and heading to Kagome's next class in no time. He had hid a small content smile and gave her hand a small squeeze.

"You know what I said back there was to keep her from going all crazy on us, right?" Kagome suddenly said when she was positive no one was paying attention to her. Not to rain on his good mood, but she just felt the need to point out that she was not dating a ghost. She couldn't be. She told herself that she would not put her hopes up like that despite her feelings towards him. No starting anything! 'I know I love him, but I can't be with him. Not yet. Until then, I am single and independent and in no need of a boyfriend! He is my friend, and even that takes it toll on me sometimes.'

A flash of his disappearing soul reminded her of such pain.

"Keh!" Inuyasha's hand remained linked to hers. "I know that."

'Sure you do…' Kagome glared from the corners of her eyes at him. 'Well whatever, on to class.'

-X-

The miko slash necromancer could hear the squealing Ayame-hime as far as two blocks away from the school the woman was so darn loud. Eventually when she thought she was a good distance away she whipped her cell phone out and decided to talk to Inuyasha. "So what's her deal? Is she really a princess?" She was a bit disbelieving of the whole thing. But apparently Kouga-sensei was a prince, meaning prince plus princess…

"Yeah. In the Sengoku Jidai, her Ookami clan ruled the north. The story is that Kouga one day came across Ayame and saved her. They got all gushy and he promised himself to her. And since their both royalty, it was an even better deal. Now of course he denies it all. I actually can't believe he's managed to keep her away for five centuries. He ain't gettin' any younger."

Kagome blinked up at him. "He doesn't look that old. Mid twenties at most. And so does she."

He shrugged. "Doesn't hide the fact that he's well over six hundred years old. Kouga's too stubborn. He should just give in; it's obvious they're made for each other. She's clearly his mate. At this rate, he'll be avoiding her till he gets too old."

The miko seemed to be thinking about this statement, ignoring some of the hints Inuyasha was dropping. "Ano…" She began, the question in mind a bit awkward to ask. "Since they're wolf demons and all, can they turn into wolves?"

Inuyasha burst into laughter, fangs gleaming in the sun as he lifted his head to laugh even louder. "N-not a chance. Despite being full blown demons, and royalty, they can't turn into wolves." He chuckled some more. "They aren't that strong for full demons, no offence to them, but the only shape shifting full breeds out there are the dog demons from my family and the neko tribe leaders." He calmed down some. "The only other thing that may be able to shape shift would be a Shape Shifter, or a Werewolf. Both of which I've never come across before."

"W-what?" Kagome stuttered. "Do th-those actually exist?"

"Not likely around here, no. Mostly in the West, in America." He replied. "Weres were never able to make it as far as Japan, Shape Shifters too. They're pretty territorial, and this whole territory had already been claimed by powerful demons. They weren't about to challenge them."

Kagome had started up the shrine steps. "So, what if there's some here now? Since we're all modern, I bet the terr—"

"No. Kagome it's still in their nature to be territorial. It's their instincts that rule them most. Even in this day and age I can feel the power of this land being ruled by full demons. Weres and Shape Shifters wouldn't dare trespass here." He stated, following the girl up the stairs.

They were silent for the rest of the way, Kagome having put her cell away and almost reached her house when she felt her phone vibrating as well as ringing. "Heh?" The school girl took it from her pocket and stared at the screen. 'Miroku-san?' She mentally read, snapping the phone open. "Moshi Moshi."

"Kagome-san!" Miroku's frantic voice on the other end blared. "We've got trouble!"

The raven haired girl narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Can it wait? I'm just getting in now—"

"Iie! We don't have much time. Hurry and drop your things and come here. We have a job to do, and we need to get there before the sun sets!" Miroku yelled into the receiver.

Inuyasha flattened his ears. "God damn. Can't things stay quiet for a few nights?" He cursed under his breath, opening the front door with a mental slam. Kagome had by then grumbled a short response and hung up, dropping her school bag inside and yelling at her mom that she'd be with Miroku. Then off they went.

The all too familiar Houshi house came into view fairly soon, and before Kagome and Inuyasha could manage a word to the boy, they had been hauled away to his car. With Mushin-shishou clearly drunk, this left the nervous young monk to drive them to their intended location while Mushin explained why they were getting there in such a rush.

"Hee-hee. Something I just noticed in the paper today. This is a certain anniversary for a supposed haunted house on the outskirts of the town. Every year some young fool dares to go inside the house to prove himself and herself worthy. And each year there are new deaths. I nearly forgot about this until I picked up the paper just a few hours ago." He giggled, his blush stained cheeks glowing redder by the second.

Everyone leaned forward when the car came to a sudden stop at a light.

"So then why are we goin' there!" Inuyasha snarled, moving closer to Kagome. "Just let 'em die! This ain't our problem!"

They were all pushed back when the light changed colours.

Mushin lost his amusement, and turned sharply on the ghost. "If we can prevent deaths, then we will! You must all enter that house and force out any whom are already there before the sun sets or they will be locked inside until sunrise." He pointed to the seat behind them. "We brought some of the bare essentials in case they're needed, all stored in a duffle bag."

The car veered suddenly, everyone making a grab for something to keep from swaying too much. All safe for Inuyasha who merely shot glares at the driver who shouldn't even be driving at the moment. Between all the traffic they were swerving through and the bumpy dirt path they were now on, the hanyou poltergeist was not impressed overall with the beginning of this hunt. Well, truth be told he really didn't want to be out in the first place if they were purposefully placing Kagome in harms way.

"So what's up with this place we're going to then?" Inuyasha asked, stuffing his hands into his sleeves. If they were dealing with a haunting, at least he'd be able to help keep some of the ghosts occupied for a while. At least until Kagome and the Houshi could work up a way to get rid of it without harming him in the process.

In the passengers seat Mushin shuffled around, noisily gathering papers from a crunched up pile he had brought along with him. "When I saw the article noting the anniversary of these deaths, I took it upon myself to look up some more details concerning the event. Apparently four years ago an entire family had died in their house. Two teenaged boys and one parent, their father. As the story goes, the father had gone insane and killed his two sons then proceeded to kill himself, all this on the anniversary of their eldest son." More shuffling of papers were heard as well as the muffled curses of the elder towards his adoptive son's driving.

"For two years now youngsters have been in that house on this very night, and in both accounts by sunrise their bodies would be discovered days later." He narrowed his eyes on some of the articles, grumbling about the non-specifics in the old clippings. "Their names were never released, so they all must have been under age. And that's all."

The car had heaved to a stop, all glares towards the driver.

"Wh-what? We did make it, didn't we?" Miroku said with a wry grin, easily hiding his nervousness of this situation.

"Hardly." Kagome muttered venomously under her breath, nodding at Inuyasha when she went to exit the car. The others had done the same, Mushin-shishou stating the importance of evacuating any and all other humans from within the building immediately if there were any. Which obviously, there were.

Another car was parked up further from theirs, and since it took a bit of time to get here, they only had roughly seven to eight minutes before the sun would set and lock everybody inside.

Oh, and did she mention that said house looked exceptionally creepy? Broken windows, faded wood, torn curtains—Well, you get the point. This place was haunted after all.

And there wasn't anything like a haunted house out in the middle of nowhere. Well, not exactly nowhere. Roughly just outside Tokyo, where the houses were more spaced out for wealthier people…

'Oh my Kami this isn't going to end well…' Kagome thought with a heavy sigh, looping her arms around a duffle bag and hauling it up the creaky steps.

Here we go.

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**A/N Okay so I don't know exactly how the outside of Tokyo looks, so just go with it okay? Old, abandoned haunted house. Classic ha ha. Anyways, I hope this chapter pleased you guys. It was meant to be all sad and dramatic in the beginning but I wanted it to get happier. So finally, in comes Ayame and a new challenge for these guys to face! Well, R&R!**


	20. December 7th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Sorry for the wait. Hopefully I'll be updating lots more so I can match up the dates with this months holidays and stuff. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**To _Baby Spaz Monkey_, I saw the picture and I'm glad I inspired you to make an adorable thing like this. It's really cute!**

**On with the chapter!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 20. December 7th**

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A haunted house.

Could this night _be_ any lamer?

Oh yeah, the answer to that is _most definitely_. And why do you ask? Well, because a bunch of know-it-all nerds with their toys had decided to claim this house as their territory. Oh yes, all in the name of paranormal discovery!

Now with the clock ticking on their lives as the sun kept dipping lower and lower on the horizon, Miroku and Kagome hadn't wasted time kicking people out of the place. Apparently there were seven of them floating around in the house, so they got to work. Inuyasha had even used some of his poltergeist-ish force to keep the moron's out of the house once Miroku managed to throw them out. And even so, with this stupid group already spread out all over the house, it was difficult to round them up. They were setting up tech in the halls and the rooms.

Basically, they were everywhere.

'This just isn't working. We only got three of them out. How are we supposed to get four more people out in two minutes?' Kagome glanced out one of the heavily stained windows, cursing the sun for dipping so quickly. She was standing in the room where the entire tech was hooked up to on the main floor. It most likely used to be a living room since there were a couple chairs and tables still set up and covered in dust, as well as a fireplace.

'What should I do?' She turned around and walked out of the room, finding Inuyasha still holding off the pissed off guys they had actually managed to pull out. Next to the hanyou was the duffel bag that she had dropped as soon as they got in. Then an idea of sorts struck her. 'If I can't get them out, at least I can protect them.' She yanked the duffel bag away from Inuyasha and opened it up. There were the basics needed to ward off spirits within the bag. A large bag of rock salt (no wonder the stupid thing was so ridiculously heavy), a book, flashlights, some seals and wards as well as matches and a small bottle of fuel.

"Kagome, use the salt to make a sealed circle big enough to fit the group left." Inuyasha grunted from the doorway, using more blasts of his demonic winds to hold back the others.

"On it." Kagome nodded, already beginning to pour the salt down for the circle. 'I just hope I have enough salt.' She inwardly rolled her eyes at her little question, deciding that yes, she most definitely had enough salt for a circle. When she finished, she put the rest of the salt into the duffel and took out a flashlight. She flicked one on just as she heard a large thud, the noise startling her. She pointed her light to the person who appeared as if from nowhere, blinking at him. "Who are you?" She asked.

She could hear several voices upstairs that were drawing nearer, Miroku's being the one she picked up on the most.

"I should be asking you that!" The one guy in front of Kagome grumbled, crossing his arms in an intimidating fashion.

Kagome opened her mouth to retort when the front door to the place had slammed shut, Inuyasha's foul cursing and growls catching her attention.

"What was that?" The guy in front of Kagome jumped a little.

Inuyasha appeared in the living room shortly, his claws and fangs bared as his eyes shifted. "Kagome, that wasn't me. Whatever is in this house has finally woken up."

"I figured that much." Kagome replied.

"What are you talking about?" The guy in front of Kagome asked.

Oh yeah, the girl had forgotten that no one could see Inuyasha except for her and Miroku.

"You and the Monk start rounding up the idiots into the circle. I can feel the other spirits around here stirring." Inuyasha's ears perked, growls escaping his lips.

"Oi girl, I asked you a quest—" The guy in front of Kagome began, but was cut off by loud screams that were approaching them. As it turned out, the missing members from upstairs were being chased down the stairs by floating objects.

"Miroku!" Kagome yelled past the guy. "Bring everyone towards the living room!"

Three people had been directed by Miroku to the living room where the salted circle was. Behind them Kagome could see the spirit of a young teenager grinning sadistically while maneuvering the objects in midair. 'He must be just like Mayu-chan. The ability to move objects with their mind.' Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha whom had actually surprised the boy ghost momentarily.

"Quick. Everyone get into the circle!" Miroku ordered the three new people. He then looked up at the taller boy who was standing in front of Kagome with confusion written on his face. "You too big guy. It's not safe."

"Well isn't this interesting. Humans who can actually see me and another ghost to play with." The young poltergeist giggled cruelly. "This will be so fun."

"What the hell are you talking about? Why should I go into that circle of—what is that stuff—"

"Looks we don't have time to explain. You'll be safe in the circle." Miroku said quickly.

"Come on Taichi! He's right!" The single girl of the group pleaded, holding her hand out to him desperately. "Please!"

"You actually think a little circle of salt can stop me? My my, aren't we being confident." The poltergeist tsked them, motioning with a wave of a hand to move the objects that floated around him in midair. "Aren't any of you going to even wish me happy birthday?"

Inuyasha cursed under his breath and glared at the kid, moving himself in between the teens inside the circle and the boy who had yet to enter. His eyes glowed as he increased his demonic aura, pupils flashing briefly blue once he swiped at the thrown objects. He shattered the first pot without a problem and had easily tossed the other blunt things to the side, charging the boy now with elongated fangs. "You brat!" He howled, claws extended.

The poltergeist stared wide-eyed at Inuyasha, his form flickering in panic. "What the hell are you!" He yelled when he was tackled through the floor, his roaring screams of anger disturbing Kagome.

"I guess I'll be going into this circle after all." The one named Taichi surprisingly said steadily, looking back at the others wordlessly.

Once inside, Miroku had crouched down in front of the duffel bag they had brought and withdrawn some of the seals. "Kagome, we should place these around the circle. Hopefully it will cancel out all the energy being used to control the items. You should also place up a barrier just in case this idea of mine doesn't work out so well."

"Right." Kagome nodded, glancing up at the group of four. She cringed when she heard Inuyasha's howls below them, and more screams of the boy. 'I hope he's okay—' She jumped a little when a younger boy materialized in front of her. 'Oh my ka—' She held a hand to her racing heart.

"What are you doing here? It's dangerous." He whispered, most of his figure hidden in the shadows. Though from what Kagome could see, he was wearing pyjamas that were blotchy in some areas near the chest and shoulders. "Well? You could get hurt lady."

Miroku momentarily froze as he was placing his seals on the floor. Where the hell had that voice come from?

"L-look, I don't know who you are, but Miroku-san and I can take care of ourselves. Inuyasha is also handling the other kid pretty well." Kagome pointed, trying a warm smile but ended up with only a weak one. Yeah, so much for sounding convincing. It was obvious the kid wasn't buying it, and was shuffling nervously in his spot. The girl had a sneaky suspicion that he wanted to remain hidden from her, most likely because of those spots on his pyjamas. 'Blood, he's probably stuck in the painful form his body was butchered into when he died.'

The boy grumbled a bit and clenched his fists, "N-no! It's not only my brother you have to worry about. He killed me—but dad—he killed him! Y-you need to watch out for them. Pa-Papa isn't the same person anymore and neither is Alistair—" He was cut off mid sentence when a aggressive wave of fear shook through him. He was trembling violently and whimpering loudly when he suddenly dispersed.

"Did you see that?" Squeaked that same girl from within the circle. Upon closer examination you could see that she was holding out a video camera to where Kagome was standing, her eyes wide in wonder.

Now that couldn't be good.

'Is it possible that the video camera she's holding picked up on the frequency of the spirit? If so, that means she and the others are going to be having a rough night watching Inuyasha brawling with the ghosts. Not to mention what I'm going to have to do to banish them.' She clenched her teeth, frowning at the small pack of teens huddled in the circle.

"Kagome-san! The seals are in place." Came Miroku's voice, breaking the girl from her thoughts.

Kagome nodded curtly and easily formed her crackling barrier, sighing in relief that at least the video camera couldn't pick up on that much. 'The less they know about us, the better.' She felt even more waves of small relief when the brats inside the circle were asking each other what was happening and if Kagome had truly done anything.

"_What a pretty pretty glow."_ Mused a new voice.

Miroku grunted, his eyes searching for the new voice in the room. Computer screens flashed, the flashlight Kagome held was now useless and burnt out, the speakers spewed out white noise as the rest of the technology around sparked. The only thing unaffected was the video camera safely within the barrier with the teenagers. "Kagome, get ready."

"He's circling us." Kagome whispered, clutching onto her necklace as if for strength. They were being scrutinized by the spirit, that much she could tell. That and he was more than likely looking for a weak point to attack. 'He's also gaining strength from the technology around us. And for all we know he has the same abilities as the other one!'

"_Well isn't this interesting. Not only have humans come to disturb my psychotic son from his rest, but a monk and priestess too? You can't just leave well enough alone, now can you?"_ His voice echoed around them, objects rumbling on their tables as he spoke.

Kagome winced at the booming voice, beginning to gather her powers to at least pull the spirit forward and illuminate him. She was tired of guessing where he was, so what choice did she have? Inhaling, she focused her thoughts on the voice, the supposed father of the two sons haunting this place. She had timidly reached out to him, imagining her hand pulling him forward to her.

"_Wh-what are you doing-! S-stop that!" _

'_Don't stop. You can do this Higurashi!' _That little voice in the back of her mind encouraged. _'Bring him forward, then send this joker packing!'_

Kagome gave another fierce pull forward, feeling the spirit materialize before her in a shimmer. She opened her eyes, staring in the face of a murderous older man. 'Oh my god, what's wrong with his face!' She thought in disgust. It was completely twisted with darkness and malice. He hardly even looked human.

"You bratty wench! No priestess could have done such a thing! You are a lie in disguise! A filthy Necromancer _bitch_!" He raised his arms, allowing all the objects around the group to rise. "Ha ha! Did you really think that my son received those powers by chance?"

"W-what's going on!" Taichi stuttered within the barrier, looking around at the floating objects wearily.

"I don't like this man." Said the other male.

"B-be quiet guys. We can't distract them!" The girl growled, trying her best to keep her hands from shaking too much in order to view the spirit more clearly on the video camera.

"Kagome-san! Do it now!" Miroku yelled.

'I know I know!' Kagome bit her lip with worry. This thing wasn't a demon, so she couldn't just purify it. The only other choice was to push it away. Banish it. But… 'I can't worry about where he's going to land! I need to believe in myself. And hope that I don't push away the wrong spirits!' Kagome breathed in deeply, gathering her inner strength until her body began to glow.

The objects that had been floating were now being thrown at them at full force. "I won't let you!"

Kagome gave him a fierce mental push. "Go _away_!"

The objects around them crashed to the floor loudly followed by Kagome.

"Kagome-san!" Miroku rushed to her side. "Are you alright?"

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's form appeared next to her, the hanyou kneeling with a growl rumbling in his chest. "What the hell did you do?"

The young girl looked up at him with a small smile. "I only got rid of them temporarily. I'm sure they'll be back soon. So hurry up and figure out a plan."

Miroku sighed. "You actually got rid of the both of them? I thought you were only aiming for the father."

"There's no time to argue. We need to find a more permanent way of getting rid of these guys." Kagome hissed, clutching her necklace tightly in thought. "We need to find their bodies—"

Miroku yelped, his figure suddenly being pulled roughly away from them. He glanced down at his ankles and found the teenaged ghost pulling him with one of his semi transparent hands.

"Miroku-san!" Kagome's voice called to him in alarm.

The monk was quick to reach within his pocket, pulling out a sutra and throwing at the back of the boy's head. "Dark spirit be gone!" He proceeded to do a small chant, blue flames engulfing the screeching boy as he got banished once again. When he was gone, Miroku had sat up with a huff.

Apparently, the kid had dragged him into the kitchen, nearly pulling him down to the cellar. He involuntarily shivered at the thought of going down into the basement and stood quickly to return to the living room. He saw Kagome standing in front of the barrier of salt and sutras, the girls eyes glued on the scene of her hanyou fighting against the father of the house. 'Damn, they are just coming back!' Miroku thought. 'If only there hadn't been anyone in this place. We could have found their graves and torched their bones.' He clenched his fists.

Then an idea popped to mind.

'Sango-san!' Miroku turned to Kagome quickly. "Kago—" A cool hand wrapped around his mouth before he even had a chance to finish, the houshi now getting very annoyed with all these interruptions.

"I'm going to rip your heart out, _houshi_." The spirits voice giggle darkly in his ear.

The miko girl turned towards the houshi in time to see that stubborn boy try to take her friend away. With a small growl, her eyes shimmered with pink as she gave that spirit another very powerful mental push. "Get away you creep!" She glared at him, watching in pure satisfaction as his spirit got violently pulled back into the territory of the other side. 'I'd like to see him get outta that so quickly!'

Miroku breathed a sigh of relief. "Arigato, Kagome-san. You still have your cell phone right?" He asked, earning a nod of recognition. "Get Sango to find the graves. Get her to burn them!"

She nodded firmly, searching in her pockets for her phone. 'But even if I do tell her, she won't even know where to start! I don't even know where to start. They could have been buried anywhere.' She thought, pulling out her cell phone and keying the message quickly. "I don't even know their full names."

"Takahashi." Whispered a small voice bellow Kagome.

The miko looked away from her phone and peeked down, holding back a gasp of mortification. It was the ghost of the little boy from earlier. Except this time she could see him quite clearly out in the open and within the source of light being emitted by her barrier. This boy… This poor boy…

His skull had been cracked open with some sort of blunt open, blood covering most of his face and of course staining his shoulders. Staining his pyjamas.

He had been beaten to death in his sleep. Without even a chance of survival!

"Did you hear me? Look for Takahashi." The boy repeated. "In the nearest cemetery from here! I d-don't know the name.."

'There could be dozens of Takahashi's' Kagome thought with a bite in her lip. But she texted it anyways. Sending the first message off as a 911 for help as well as the basic information.

"Just look for the really big stone angel and you'll find Papa with Alistair and me! I'm Terri—"

"Obviously, I didn't beat your skull in enough, you mouthy little brat!" Alistair appeared behind the kid with a murderous look twisted into his features.

Kagome sent off her next text shortly after the boy told her the needed information. 'I need to help him!' She glared at Alistair. "Leave him alone! Haven't you done enough to him!" She screeched, waving her hand and giving him a nudge away from his brother. 'How does he keep coming back so quickly! I don't get it!'

"Sacred Sutras!" Miroku yelled, tossing his sutras at the spirit.

Alistair chuckled and avoided the blue flamed papers, disappearing in a mist. His taunting laughter filled the room only momentarily until he reappeared behind the houshi with a hand through his chest. Eyes wide with blood lust, Alistair smiled darkly, moving his lips next to the monk's ear. "I told you, I was going to rip out your heart."

The houshi's blue eyes widened in surprise from the ghost's appearance, his mouth opening to let out a raw yell of pain. He felt a tremendous pressure on his heart, as well now as twangs of pain. He didn't know how much more he could take of this, and it had barely even been ten seconds. 'C-can he really rip out my heart?' He thought in agony.

"Iron _reaver_!" Inuyasha's guttural snarl came from nearby, glowing claws slashing through Alistair's ghostly flesh. He let out a grunt when the spirit dispersed with a scream, cracking his knuckles for the next round of attacks.

'There's no way we can keep fighting like this the whole night. Sango needs to find those graves. She needs to burn those corpses!' Kagome thought, gasping when the father appeared in front of her. There was a blast of wind, and next thing she knew Inuyasha was standing in front of her, snarling and baring his fangs and claws. 'Even Inuyasha must get tired at some point, or can spirits not get tired at all?' she clutched her phone to her chest tightly, feeling it buzz with a new text.

"_I'm on it Kagome! Leave it to me!"_ Sango had messaged back confidently.

Right, so they had a hunter on their side, but even then it wouldn't be enough. Sango-san was only one person. She needed to dig up at least two graves by herself—Oh that's right, super strength. Okay then maybe she could handle this just fine after all. 'Please be quick Sango-san. Things are getting crazy here.' She bit her lip. Then she made a silent vow.

She wouldn't give up. She'd fight to the end and make sure that these people encased in her barrier would not be harmed.

Her eyes darted to Miroku being tossed against a wall then back at Inuyasha resuming his fight with the older man.

'What do I do?' Kagome asked herself, blinking between her two friends fighting the spirits.

'How can I help?' She gasped when Miroku was once again dragged off beyond the doors that she assumed led to a kitchen. She felt the need to go after him, and to banish Alistair again, but what about the people inside the barrier? She didn't want anything to happen to them either.

"Iron reaver!" Inuyasha howled, ripping apart Takahashi-san with his claws. The shredding and cracking of bones being twisted and flesh being torn had made the Father yell out in a cry before dispersing to recover, giving Inuyasha the opportunity to go after Miroku. "I'm going to help the houshi. Stay here!" He rumbled, dispersing as well.

"W-who is that red and white guy Ai-chan?" One of the boys inside the barrier questioned.

"I don't know. I don't remember this place being haunted by people from another time period." The girl, Ai, answered. She looked up from her camera screen and called out to Kagome. "S-sumimasen, but… Do you understand what's going on? Can you see this?" She asked.

The miko slash necromancer kept silent, clenching and unclenching her fists in worry. She turned to them, her blue eyes turning icy with anger. "Yes, we can. Anything else?" She said, her words dripping with venom.

And of course, one of the boys, completely ignoring her very pissed off mood had asked. "Yeah, uh what about the guy in red? Whaddyaja call him?"

"Kito-kun!" Ai whispered, shaking her head. "Shut up!"

"You're friend is being torn apart as we speak. Limb from limb. His spirit will join the other world leaving only you here to defend yourself. Poor poor necromancer bitch."

Oh god, he was back. Why couldn't they just stay gone?

"Shut up!" Kagome yelled, turning her head to try and pin point where Takahashi's voice was coming from. "Or I'll drag your sorry excuse for a soul back to your body and make you my puppet." She threatened. Actually the thought of doing such a thing to anyone was unforgivable and completely disgusting. But this poltergeist was really getting on her last nerve _very_ quickly. And how long had it been since sundown? Maybe a half hour at most?

Miroku-san was gone.

Inuyasha was off somewhere hopefully helping Miroku-san.

Kagome was here, protecting these moronic people from this bloodthirsty dead man who just wouldn't stay dead. Why the hell were they coming back? How the hell were they coming back so quickly?

"Hardly a threat. My body lies away from here. Too bad for you, little girl."

"Apparently you didn't know then." She could at least buy some time until she could formulate a plan or at least understand why the spirits kept coming back so easily. Either way, time was needed.

"_Know? Know what!" _

"Like you said. I am a priestess." Kagome's eyes sharpened, the girl focusing on pulling the man forward again from the mist. "But also, a necromancer." She watched as his form appeared, some joints still popping back into place while his body continued to sew itself back together.

"You little—So what. You are two things. That doesn't mean—"

"What it means." Kagome interrupted him, "Is that I have unusually powerful and at times uncontrollable powers." Her hands crackled with spiritual powers, though unseen to the human eye. "I could easily send you sailing back to you body and keep you there, buried underground and out of trouble with only a thought. No spell needed." She walked forward towards him, her hand crackling more now.

She'd been training her butt off ever since Inuyasha was out of commission and now was as good a time to start using her powers. 'No more sitting on the sidelines! Until Sango-san burns those corpses, I'm going to make myself useful.' She held out her right hand, increasing her spiritual powers until her body came to a glow. The light gathered slowly, and formed a long, sparking pink bow made of spiritual powers.

Takahashi took a step backwards wearily. "I-if you could do that—You would have done it by now!"

"If I was cruel, maybe. And I am debating it." She held out her bow, pulling back the thin bowstring, an arrow of light forming. "Or maybe I'll just stick to purifying your soul painfully until you leave this place permanently." She let her first arrow fly, burning through Takahashi's mending soul and disintegrating him.

'He'll be back. Unfortunately.'

"_I won't leave this place! No matter how many time you try and use those silly arrows, or tear my soul to pieces! I will return to this very place! The place where I killed my son, and killed myself I will—"_

She tuned him out after that, letting him go on with his speech. 'The place where he died? That makes sense. They're attached to this specific location because it was the last place they were in when they lived. It's the house!'

"Kagome!"

"Kagome-san."

Both Miroku and Inuyasha had returned in time to see Kagome standing in front of the barrier, a pink bow made entirely of her spiritual powers in her grasp.

The girl had briefly caught a glimpse of Miroku's eyes exchanging looks of recognition with her, the monk smiling weakly. "I'm glad your safe."

Of course the moment was short lived when the two poltergeists had returned full force again. Well, mostly. Takahashi looked to be having a bit of a problem healing. His attacks were also sluggish and he couldn't move objects as easily.

With the boys fighting again, this gave Kagome the opportunity to use her arrows again, first aiming at Alistair, the boy looming above Miroku with his back turned to her.

She let the arrow of light go, the thing taking flight and landing square into her target, sinking into his ghostly form and causing him to freeze up. He let out choking noises, and screeched loudly. Now distracted, Miroku had withdrawn a sutra from his pocket and banished the ghost with the spell, taking this time to get up and move to Kagome's side quickly.

"Get the old man too. I have a theory about all this." Miroku told her.

"Got it." She turned her bow and pulled back an arrow. 'Except that he's not here. It looks like Inuyasha might had taken the fight to the basement again.' She thought, mentally calling the hanyou back along with the other poltergeist. 'Here we go!' As soon as they shimmered into place, she had distinguished Inuyasha's shimmer from that of the other man.

Once he was completely visible, she shot.

Similarly he froze, giving Miroku enough time to banish him as well.

"A-are they gone?" Taichi ventured to ask them.

Kagome looked to Miroku, silently urging him to speak before the ghosts returned.

"Inuyasha! Try to open the door." Miroku said quickly.

The hanyou growled in response, glaring at the monk for ordering him around. With a wave his hand he tried to force the door open, but again it wouldn't budge. "Well, didn't we already know there was no way out, houshi?"

"Kagome-san! Use an arrow on it." Miroku instructed, watching as she formed another one and aimed it at the door. "Without their presence here, all that's left is their hold on the doors and windows that lock all people inside. Maybe by purifying one of the exits of their tainted powers, we can open a door before they return."

Once she shot the arrow, Inuyasha had motioned for the door to open.

Which surprisingly enough, it had.

"Every body out!" Kagome yelled. "While the door is still open!"

"I-I don't have to be told twice!" The girl inside the barrier squeaked. Soon the four people had exited the house and joined up with the other three members of their group that had been locked out. Next Miroku joined them and just as Kagome and Inuyasha were going to leave, the doors had slammed shut again.

"_How did you do that girl." _

"_What the fuck did you do to us!"_

_"We'll kill you! All of you!"_

Kagome withdrew all the powers that had created the barrier and returned them to her body, the pink glow swirling around her bow.

"Well isn't that a little difficult when they all managed to get away, you morons!" Inuyasha yelled, standing protectively next to Kagome.

"_Not for long! We'll leave this place, and we will hunt them until their all dead!"_ Alistair appeared close to them. "We'll coat them in lots of blood… Such a pretty colour blood is… I can hardly wait to see what your insides will look like on the outside!" He cackled.

Kagome flinched, but still stood her guard. 'I _won't_ let him frighten me!' She lifted her bow and pointed it at him with an arrow ready.

"Come on, do try it little girl. I guarantee I won't let you hit me with that again." Alistair mocked. He rolled his shoulders and began to lift items around them again, thought with a bit of difficulty, surrounding them with blunt and pointy things.

"Shoot him." Inuyasha growled. "You can do it."

Kagome remained still, eying the boy down. When the objects around them began to move, she had shot her arrow, narrowly missing him. 'Uh oh-!' She turned and ducked out of the way of some of the objects, gasping when a piece of broken window glass caught her off guard. It was aimed for her side, and she waited for the pain. But nothing happened. The glass stopped millimeters from her side, and then dropped to the floor along with everything else.

She turned back to Alistair, only to find him howling in pain, his spirit disintegrating in red flames and ashes. When he was completely gone, the door to the house had swung open, revealing the way out. 'A-are they both gone?' Kagome thought in shock. 'Sango-san did it?' A vibration in her pocket seemed to confirm her suspicions. A text from the woman of the night, asking if everyone was okay.

"_We're fine but how did you do that so fast?"_ Kagome had texted back.

Moments later, a new message was received.

"_Their graves were shallow. I barely had to dig for them."_ Sango wrote back.

"Shallow graves?" Kagome repeated aloud, looking up at Inuyasha in confusion. 'How can that be? Most graves are can range from all kinds of deep depths. Tsubaki's grave was a work out and a half to dig up.'

"I wanted to help. So I lifted them a bit." Came a small voice.

It was the boy from before again. The younger brother of the family. Terri? He'd returned, but looked different. He looked content, and proud.

"I'm sorry for what they've done. I-I couldn't stop th-them by myself." He stuttered.

Kagome shook her head and smiled. "It was never your responsibility. But what you did helped us a lot. So thank you." Her pink bow felt from her grasp, though light still circled around her fingertips. She reached out and touched the boys shoulder, blinking when her light began to surround him. She pulled her hand away quickly, watching as the blood stains vanished from Terri's pyjamas, his nightmare-ish injuries also disappearing, instead showing a beautiful smiling face.

"I feel so warm… It's nice…" The boy hummed in delight, his form flickering, then disappearing.

The hanyou standing next to Kagome had finally relaxed. With the last soul gone from this godforsaken place, he could settle his nerves and focus on lowering his demonic aura. To help, he had wrapped his arms around Kagome's waist and pulled her to him, his nose going for her neck as he inhaled deeply. He shuddered, the scent giving him chills but none the less soothing his demonic counterpart until he visibly resembled a hanyou again. Well, for the most part anyways.

His purple stripes were still tattooed across his cheeks, but that was to be expected considering what kind of trouble they had gotten themselves into tonight.

"Let's go, the others are waiting." Inuyasha rumbled against Kagome's neck. He felt her nod against him and so he turned her around and began to lead her out, only stopping to pick up the duffel on the floor. Once they were out, they were greeted by a happy Mushin.

"I see it went well." He chuckled. "It only took you an hour and a half. Now we can go home fairly early for once."

"Wait—An hour and a half? You're kidding, right?" Ai had asked. The group of 'paranormal researchers' were still here, talking amongst themselves and exchanging hugs.

"I'm afraid not. You took your time in there." Mushin replied. "So much for simply removing you."

"But it had only felt like a half hour at most." Kagome said, dropping the duffel on the ground. "How does that work?"

"The spirits could have changed our perception of time as soon as they woke up. That entire house was under their control after all." Miroku shrugged, picking up the duffel and tossing it into the car.

"You won't believe all the footage we caught!" Kito shouted inside the group, grabbing the camera from Ai and pressing the button to rewind the tape. "It was sick! The fights, the tearing the—Hey-what the hell!"

Kagome and the others turned to look over at the silly paranormal group, secretly hiding their smiles while a happy looking Mayu-chan stood next to Kito. Bits and pieces of the tape started to jam up in the machine and then pool out, the strands tearing and gathering messily on the ground in the snow.

"Th-the tape!" Ai bawled, glaring at Kito angrily. "You ruined it! How could you? That was our proof!"

Mayu giggle at the arguing members, sending smiles and a wave towards Kagome and the others before secretly disappearing.

"Well, now we know they can't prove anything from tonight or expose you." Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome. "I heard you when you were pissed off at the old man. If that had gotten out, we'd have every kind of supernatural being on our asses and fighting over dominance for you."

"I know I slipped up. But you guys were gone, and I was worried." Kagome defend in a mumbled.

The hanyou snorted. "To be fair, you pretty much made up for it by using that bow of yours. How the hell did you do that wench?"

"Later. Let's go home, I'm tired and their loud." She gestured to the arguing group of researchers, deciding that they didn't need a 'thank you' for protecting their sorry butts from certain death.

Instead, they piled back into Mushin's car and enjoy a nice, slow drive home.

Home.

That idea sounded absolutely fantastic right now. That and dinner.

'Then sleep. I'm so tired right now, I don't care about homework.' Kagome thought drowsily, leaning her head against the window. She slowly dosed off to the sounds of Miroku and Mushin's arguing voices and Inuyasha soothing growls.

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**A/N Wow, that took awhile to do huh? Well good news is that when I get the holiday chapter out, it will be on time fort he holidays this year lol. And yes there is one massive sort of villain that will be coming up shortly. And of course the return of our other hunters, finally. Well, until then, R&R!**


	21. December 12th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Wow, I'm just in generally overwhelmed by the amount of happy reviews I got from you guys. Thanks so much. I had no idea I still had original readers from 08 still waiting for the ending. Haha, well I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. As requested there is a little more Inu/Kag in it among other things. Please, let me know what you think!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 21. December 12**

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She had been having the weirdest feelings as of late.

That and some very strange repetitive dream involving a mirror and some woman that clearly was not her on the other side of it.

She had stopped snacking before bed and even meditates to relax herself. Yet this dream has been coming to her for nearly a week now. Unfortunately to top it all off, she never remembers anything that happens beyond the whole I-don't-see-myself-in-the-reflection part. Even though she knows she's having some important conversation.

Good news is that there haven't been any intense ghostly encounters. Bad news is that each time Kagome's been having this dream of hers, apparently she's been subconsciously raising the dead. Again. 'Nothing but a couple small rodents though.' She inwardly told herself. Of course the reason that there's only been a few zombie pets here and there is because the hanyou would do rounds every so often to get rid of deceased creatures and send them god knows where. Nothing like a demon bloodhound poltergeist to hunt down mister fluffy.

'He's also been very uptight, like me. It's not even remotely close to the full moon and he's acting increasingly agitated.' Kagome looked up from her book she was reading at her desk to stare back at the ghost parked on her bed. She shivered a bit, not really knowing why considering she was cozy in her room with her sweatpants and sweater. 'What is this feeling? I don't get it…' She turned back to her book, continuing her studies. Exams were coming up, and she needed to be ready.

Sango and Miroku had been getting along quite well too at school. Yes, Sango-san was definitely back in action at the school. To the Monk's delight, his favourite piece of ass was walking the halls once more. Though he was careful, he would generally hit on her four to seven times a day, even risking a grope here and there. If it weren't for Sango's incredible self-control, the Houshi would most likely be in the intensive care unit right now… Thank Kami Sango-san was self-training her abilities. Because until the boys got back—

'Speaking of which, why can't they be here now? There's so much they could be helping with. Stupid unreliable hunters.' Kagome pouted at her book.

"You're obviously not getting any studying done, wench." Came Inuyasha's voice from behind her. "Quit wasting time and learn that stuff."

'How does he know when I'm daydreaming? Jeez, he needs to really stay out of my head.' She grunted loudly. "I'm going to go make some coffee." Standing abruptly, she left her room to make some of that warm drink to help her focus on her studies. Today was a great day too because no one was home to disturb her from her 'exam study mode' aside from Inuyasha of course. He was basically glued to her hip these days, not that she was complaining.

She giggled to herself while she got the coffee out and prepared the machine. Strangely enough, just standing in the kitchen like this was making her feel better. Maybe she was feeling too stuffed up in her bedroom or something. She watched with interest as the coffee brewed, releasing a delightful vanilla hazelnut aroma that engulfed her senses. 'So good…' She picked out some cookies and set them up on a plate, taking out a mug for her coffee.

There was a firm knock at the front door, and the distinct rumbles of her hanyou companion standing there in wait. He was quite the guard dog…

"Just a sec!" Kagome called to the front as she walked over. She was half tempted to sit Inuyasha for being such a grump, but decided against it. When she swung open the door, she had instantly regretted it. Like really _really_ regretted it.

"Ka-_gome_-chan!" Sang Yuka brightly with a big smile. And not only was Yuka-chan there, but Ayumi-chan and Eri-chan too, as well as a disgruntle Sango-san pouting behind them. They were all clad in warm winter jackets and mittens, cheeks red from the cold showing that they had most likely walked here. Or at least taken their time going up the shrine steps.

"M-minna-san, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked with a stuttered, now feeling incredibly stupid for having not slammed the door in the first place, or even bothered to check through the peephole. Damn! She could have avoided this encounter and could be enjoying her coffee and cookies right about now—

Eri laughed loudly and almost maniacally. "The Winter Formal is this week! AND we need new dresses of course."

Oh yeah, the Winter Formal.

The raven haired girl stood there for a second, a bit overwhelmed by the girls. 'So that's why Sango-san doesn't look too impressed…' She glanced back at the growling Inuyasha, smiling apologetically. "J-just give me two minutes to change will you?" She told the girls, receiving mild glares from her hanyou partner for saying such a thing.

"Okay!" The girls blurted, bypassing Kagome rudely to huddle inside for the warmth in wait of Kagome. Even Sango had entered giving Kagome that tired look and roll of the eyes at their friends' eccentric behaviour.

"We'll be in the living room." She mumbled, giving a small nod to the hanyou as she passed by him.

Once Kagome was safely upstairs, she had faced the unimpressed Inuyasha in her room. He had his arms stuffed in either sides of his sleeves and was giving her a stern look of disapproval. "Look, you know how they get. It's nearly impossible to stop them when they're on a mission." She tried to defend, only receiving a dull rumble from him.

"You don't get that many chances to study Kagome. You told me that these tests of yours were important. How there hell are you going to pass them if you don't take this free time now to study while your not being bothered by idiotic spirits." Inuyasha all but yelled at her, very unhappy at the moment, clearly.

However didn't she just say that she had no choice in the matter?

The girls had taken Sango-san. What chance did she stand against them if they managed to drag Sango-san from her studies and training?

"Look this isn't my fault! I didn't ask for them to come over and drag me to the mall to go dress shopping!" Kagome yelled back, walking up to him to poke him in the chest. "So just lay off!"

He snorted, sticking his face closer to hers. "I do that and you won't get anything done around here!"

Kagome sighed in exasperation and moved away from him, walking over to her closet to withdraw various items of clothing to go out in. "Look you can either sulk here until I get back or come with us and help me pick out a dress." She said while removing her sweatshirt to put on a three quarter sleeve shirt.

Inuyasha, whom had been starring at her, had briskly turned around in favour of not eating carpet, faint amounts of blush dusting his cheeks. "K-keh. The hell would I do? Just watch you try on dresses? What a waste of time." He muttered, his ears twitching back towards her as he listened to the shuffling materials she changed into.

Kagome tisked him. "You know, most boys your age would jump at a chance to see pretty girl wearing different, short dressed revealing their gorgeous long legs—" She began in a sugary voice while buttoning up her skinny jeans.

His ears perked. "You mean there are going to be men around there too?" He interrupted with a feral growl, turning his head to give her a side-glance and a small visual of faint purple marking on his cheeks.

'How is he turning full demon without the full moon and in brood daylight? This doesn't make sense..' She shrugged on a long, light material, beige vest, giving him her best sweet smile. "Most likely. Though unless Miroku caught wind of our plans, I'll bet they'll be complete strangers checking us out. Heck maybe even ask some of the girls out." She placed a finger on her chin. "Yuka could use a solid boyfriend…"

The hanyou fully turned and trudged up to her, snatching her wrist roughly and tugging her to him possessively. "I'm going. And not just to keep those perverts away either. I'm just curious about this dress thing." He defended quickly.

"Of course." Kagome muttered dryly. "'Cause you wouldn't be coming to scare boys away from me at all."

"Let's get going." Inuyasha cut in firmly, disappearing in a mist.

The girl only rolled her eyes and smiled at his silly antics, wandering downstairs to greet the girls and be on their merry way. 'Not without my coffee of course!'

-X-

"This is cute!"

"Ayumi, may I remind you that we are not looking for cute." Yuka cut in, placing a dress back on the rack.

"That's right!" Eri added. "We are looking for drop dead gawd damn _sexy_!" She squealed, pulling out a similar dress that fit her taste.

Kagome laughed weakly, adding some dresses to her small arm full. There was no way most of these would look all that great on her, but she also knew that the girls' wouldn't just let her try on one dress despite how much she liked it. 'Shopping is also such a work out with the girls.' She glanced over at Sango whom was also forming a small hand full of dresses.

"Well, I think I'm going to go try these on—"

"Wait Kagome-chan! We're going as a group!" Ayumi interrupted, tugging the others along the way with Kagome to take over the fitting rooms.

What an adventure this was turning into. Aside the fact that they were constantly putting on and removing dresses, there were occasions where Inuyasha would enter the fitting room and surprise the miko slash necromancer with one of his smirks. Claiming he was only helping by zipping her up, the girl ended up making him face plant for even thinking of entering the fitting room without her permission.

"You're over reacting wench, you didn't need to sit me for joking around." He grounded outside her room with a pout. He shot a glare at Sango whom had been giving him dirty looks since she had heard the whole exchange. Pretty much, if he were alive right now, he would be fair game to her to kill. 'Stupid hunter.'

"What do you girls think of this one?" Kagome yelled through the door, completely ignoring the hanyou and opening her door to observe the other ladies in their dresses. What number had they gone up to so far? Six? Each? The poor staff here must be cursing them by now.

Inuyasha for one was a bit more silent than usual while the other girls gasped and smiled brightly. Sango-san was even at a loss for words, admiring the dresses Kagome was wearing with a hint of envy. It was a strapless crimson dress with a snug torso top that flared slightly from her waist down to about mid calf. It was layer material with a small glittered pattern in the lower right side corner of the torso that curled upward just below the breast. To Kagome, she didn't feel all that special.

But to the others, judging by their looks anyways, this dress seemed to compliment her.

"Damn, look at those curves!" Came a new voice that broke through their silence.

Naturally, Inuyasha's rumbles loudly filled the room. Even with the squealing and the noise from the staff and other customers, nothing compared to his possessive growls and warning snarls.

In Kagome's opinion right now, out of all the possible moments that they could have shown up, right then had not been expected. I mean are you serious? In a mall? Where there aren't any spirits aside from Inuyasha anywhere nearby? Not a single supernatural thing occurring whatsoever? 'You have got to be kidding me.'

"Ne, Kagome-chan." Ayumi began in a mumble. "You never said anything about your date showing up here as an audience."

Oh yeah, cause calling Bankotsu-san her date for this formal was the best way to calm a raging half dog demon poltergeist. Yup, terrific.

"Sorry we came a bit unexpected. We just caught wind of you girls here and decided to provide some opinions." Jakotsu, whom was standing next to Bankotsu, beamed happily. "Oh my my, Miss Sango looks fabulous in that pink dress of hers!" Jakotsu winked at her playfully.

The female hunter blinked and blushed a bit, feeling suddenly shy around the professional hunters. "A-arigatou." She stuttered, nervously scratching her arm. She was wearing a mid length dress that was pink in the torso and black in the length, some lace decorating the pink. To finish it off, there was a ribbon tied in a cute bow to the side connecting the black to the pink of the dress.

"I still say Kagome's the sexiest, no offence ladies." Bankotsu grinned at them, shooting his dark blue gaze back at Kagome quickly to look her up and down again. "I think that this one is the winner Kagome." He purred, completely ignoring the furious poltergeist standing right next to the girl flexing his claws.

"Back off hunter. I told you that she was _mine_." He barked, stepping slightly in front of her to cover her up from his enemy's sight.

"Well then, looks like we found our dresses! How about we go pay." Yuka suggested, being the first to strut back into her fitting room to change back into her clothes. The other girls followed suit, including Kagome and Sango.

However Kagome had discreetly tugged Inuyasha into her fitting room, making sure that no human had seen her pull at thin air. Once she got the door closed behind her she had turned around and whispered harshly. "Calm down Inuyasha. I don't want you starting anything."

He was up in her face faster than she could even blink. "Me?" He shouted in protest. "He was the one undressing you with those damnable eyes." He roared hotly.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure you've done that too. And most likely worse." Kagome defended quietly.

He snorted in response. "Obviously, because you are mine. So I can do whatever the hell I want."

Kagome's blue eyes at first widened then furrowed angrily. "If there is something I know, it is that I don't belong to anyone. We are not dating we are not m-mates. You are a ghost I am a human. We cannot be anything while you are dead, and I am alive. So I can damn well do whatever I like whenever I like without you breathing down my neck." She sniffed. Though instead of winning the argument like she had planned, instead he had unexpectedly pushed her back until he had her pressed up against the wall of the store.

He was nose to nose with her. Sparkling amber gold starring deeply into her pretty blue orbs.

"Despite what you say Kagome, you know that you and I share a bond. So naturally I feel much closer to you than I ever intended because I now know you were meant to be mine. And in my mind, you are mine." He had calmed quite a bit, though his eyes still glittered with raging emotions. "So sorry for feeling the urge to protect you all the time, but I can't help it. You're my mate. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to be there. I don't give a damn if I don't have a body. Until the right time comes, I will stay by your side and get rid of any and all males that even _think_ of getting in my way."

She couldn't tell if this was an apology or him just trying to smooth things over with her or even trying to ask her to be his girlfriend. She just knew for sure that he cared about her. He really really cared about her, something she just hadn't expected. 'It's not just physical is it? Even with his flirty attitude and horrible temper, he has always been there to make sure I was okay. To help me whenever he could. To protect me physically and mentally.' She thought, feeling a bit warm from their proximity.

He had definitely noticed how close they had gotten. In fact he had noticed it way long ago when he had originally shoved her against the wall. Except that now he was catching strong whiffs of her scent. She smelt beyond delicious; it had his mind going a bit delirious. So maybe that was why he had kissed her. He couldn't help it. She looked so adorable all flushed and her scent was just too enticing. So he kissed her softly at first, as if testing the waters. As soon as she responded, he had gone full blown, almost urgently, kissing her. He needed to feel her lips roughly against his. He needed to taste her.

"Kagome! What's taking so long!" Eri shouted, knocking on the door. "Are you okay in there?"

Inuyasha tore himself from her quickly, a low growl at his lips for the interruption. He opened his eyes and stared at the girl's swollen lips and flushed face, proud that he did that and not that moron hunter who had horrendous timing. 'Mate.' He nuzzled and kissed her temple, lowering his lips to her ear. "For the record wench, you look gorgeous in this dress." He chuckled, giving her one final nip with one of his fangs on her ear lobe before backing away.

She was in a bit of a daze, and short of breath. Her eyes were hazily staring up at him, a small whine lodged in her throat for the loss of attention.

…

"Well don't just stand there looking stupid. Those annoying friends of yours are waiting for you!" Inuyasha spoke in his usual rough tone, grinning at her now peeved face.

What. Did. He. Just. Say?

Knowing he'd get sat, he had disappeared out of the room quickly before she could even utter the _word_.

'Th-that jerk!' Kagome clenched her fists angrily, turning to look at herself in the mirror. 'Aw crap.' She stared at her swollen lips. Okay first thing was first. She had changed into her clothes, telling the girls that she was just having a tough time deciding on the right dress still to buy some time. Then she had put some lip gloss on and smiled while coming out of the fitting room.

"I think you guys were right. The red one was the best after all." She said sheepishly.

"You see, don't doubt us Kagome-chan." Yuka smiled.

"Never again." Kagome laughed lightly.

"Um.. Is it me are do you lips look a little… I don't know, big?" Ayumi asked as they approached the cashier desk.

Kagome simply brushed off the question with a shrug. "It's this new plumping lips gloss I got. Works wonders."

Heh heh, that was easier to say than she had thought.

"Oh! Trying to impress someone are we?" Yuka winked.

Huh, she hadn't expected that kind of outcome. But from what she could tell, Inuyasha hadn't minded the comment. He just followed behind her with either of his hands tucked into his sleeves, as if he weren't listening at all.

'Pompous. Jerk.'

-X-

"Kagome-chan, wanna come with us to get something to eat?" Yuka asked shortly after they had all left the mall, bags in hand. "We're thinking about getting some sushi."

Kagome had politely declined as well as Sango and the other Hunters. Before the three girls could even protest, the group had made a bit of a dash for Bankotsu's car. Again Inuyasha hadn't been happy when he was obliged to merely follow them on the outside of the vehicle, but didn't have a choice since it was pretty much ghost proof. He was also itching to yell at them considering the amount of time these idiot hunters took to return to town.

Quickly recognizing the direction the car was taking, the hanyou found himself wondering why they were going to Miroku's and not the old antique shop. His question was answered quite quickly when they arrived, an unfamiliar woman sitting next to the Monk inside his home, chatting rather coolly. From the looks of things, the Monk was nervous and looked relieved to see everyone here and even surprised to see Sango.

"Who's this?" Sango asked tonelessly, glaring darkly at the Houshi.

It was Bankotsu whom had stepped up and circled around the new woman, slinging and arm around her shoulder with a crooked smile. "This everyone, is Kagura. She's a Witch—"

"More specifically a Wind Witch." She cut in to correct.

"—Right, and my girlfriend." Bankotsu finished.

Ah. So he had a girlfriend now?

…What a flirt.

Kagome risked a glance at Inuyasha, rolling her eyes at his relieved face. 'Stupid, as if anyone could compete with you anyways.' She thought, looking back at Bankotsu-san and his girlfriend. "So, are you the witch then that helped close the gap from our world to the underworld?"

Kagura, a woman who stood a bit shorter next to Bankotsu with dark brown locks tied back in a bun and strange crimson eyes, had nodded. Her face was impassive. "I happened to come across these two baka when I felt a fluctuation in the air. Luckily I was able to close the doorway with my spells, but not before several demons escaped."

"We managed to hunt down most of those escapees before they manage to get far, but I still have my doubts." Jakotsu spoke up worriedly. "They all seemed to be heading this way for some odd reason. So it is likely we missed quite a few. Mostly those that were air born and hidden among the clouds and out of our sights."

Miroku sighed loudly, shaking his head. "Why don't you all sit down and make yourselves comfortable. I'll go get some tea." He stood from the couch and moved passed the group, risking a small smile at Sango before disappearing into the kitchen.

Once they were all arranged in the living room, Miroku had returned with steaming cups of green tea, placing a tray down on the table gently.

"So." Kagome began awkwardly, blowing on her tea.

Miroku cleared his throat and began to speak. "Well, as far as to why the demons might be coming here. It is most likely because Kagome draws them. Her abilities are quite remarkable and have drawn in stray youkai before."

"What? When did this happen?" Jakotsu asked in genuine worry.

"Um, around the time you were gone." Kagome mumbled, peeking at Sango. "But I've been training since then. I can control my spiritual powers just fine for the most part. So how are they coming here when I'm not emitting so much energy like I used to?"

"Well that's just it wench. You used to have no control over it. Back then when you blasted me into oblivion; you probably sent a freaking beacon to them. Now they're just circling around in confusion in the skies until it happens again so they can find you." Inuyasha replied, looking up at her from his position on the floor. He was sitting in front of the couch and leaning on it, Kagome's legs on either side of him.

"Well that's just great then. I'm a walking target." Kagome pouted down at him. "And anyways, aside from this issue there's a few others that we need to talk to you about." Kagome looked up at the boys, then back at Sango.

"Yeah, we noticed." Bankotsu chuckled in amusement. "So, your blood limit is up and at it again huh?"

Sango blushed, looking away. "W-well it was a bit of an accident, and I don't really understand it."

Jakotsu laughed loudly, shaking his head. "Oh sweetie, you are too precious. I can't wait to train with you. You must be very strong."

"Strong? I thought you were too." Sango asked in confusion.

"Well yes, we are." Jakotsu nodded. "But your clan was the strongest compared to ours and the reason why they decided to make their blood limit go dormant. It was decided way back in the Sengoku period that our family blood limit would remain active as a form of security to the humans. Yours on the other hand was decided to go dormant because it was the families' ultimate request that their descendants would grow up as normal humans. They were one of the original of original bloodlines to have begun. Legendary soldiers who fought side by side to Midoriko-sama herself."

"H-how do you know all this?" Sango stuttered in shock. She just didn't know her family was that old and had such strong roots.

Bankotsu shrugged, "We've got old records and were told stories about you guys. It was always predicted that when your bloodline would awaken a great catastrophe would occur. So far, I think we're right on track." He eyed Kagome and Inuyasha. "You're right about the demons circling around. We've been able to partially feel it. There's also a bit of an unbalance around here among the supernatural."

"Obviously." Inuyasha snorted. "Kagome here has been learning to control her spiritual powers just fine and dandy. Its her other half that's been causing some weird stuff too."

"You mean her necromancer abilities?" Jakotsu inquired.

"What others could I possibly be pointing out?"

"Well you don't have to be snippy about it…"

"Inuyasha, be nice."

"Keh."

"Well, she's on her own for that. We don't have any way of finding her a suitable necromancer teacher. They're just too rare." Bankotsu shook his head. "Unless you know anyone?" He raised a brow at Kagura, whom had been silent this entire time.

She looked at him briefly and grunted. "I don't know either. All I know is my kind and my powers, nothing more."

"Well then, this brings us to the next set of questions." Kagome beamed. "We think we might know how to set Inuyasha free. But it depends on what you know."

"Us?" Both brothers said in unison.

Miroku placed down his cup of tea. "The theory is that the spell used to contain Inuyasha was split into two parts. The first portion was given to Kagome's family as a sort of story. The second entrusted to you active hunters. Could this be possible?"

"Inuyasha?" Kagura mumbled.

"Yeah, the ghost we told you about." Bankotsu answered easily.

"Wait, you mean she can't see me?" Inuyasha asked, bluntly pointing at her with a clawed finger. "At all?"

"She's a Witch, not a Miko or Houshi or Hunter." Jakotsu sang.

"Whatever." The hanyou crossed his arms. "So are the wench and houshi right? Do you guys know anything?"

"Well." Jakotsu mumbled worriedly. "I—"

"Nope." Bankotsu answered lightly, glancing quickly at his brother. "No idea."

Kagome furrowed her brows, disappointment evident on her face. 'What? _What?_ I was so sure about this. I mean, it makes sense doesn't it? Kikyo splitting the spell apart to keep him forever sealed away and all?' She thought, unshed tears beginning to cloud her vision.

'_He can't be freed. He's too strong.' _

'What was that?' The blue eyed girls' head shot up, looking around wearily for the familiar voice.

_'Heed my warning, this demon is to never walk this earth again for he will bring a great evil.'_

'Who is that? Where is that voice coming from?' Kagome placed a cool hand on her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. 'Inuyasha? Is it Inuyasha?' She looked down at his silver hair and dog ears.

_'Do not let—'_

'Shut up! Be quiet! Inuyasha isn't evil. He just isn't. And he will have a second chance at living. I will save him!' Kagome's own voice echoed in her mind, a small realization occurring. This wasn't just a voice she was hearing. They were memories that she had forgotten.

About her dream.

The woman in the mirror that looked just like her. This was her voice. So did that mean it was _Kikyo_ talking to her? Warning her?

Just what was going on?

'Oh Kami, why is my life just so complicating?'

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**A/N So the boys are back. The Winter Formal will be happening and hopefully we are looking at two to three chapters left in this story. I hope to be finished by Christmas, but we all know how it is. I just need to whip my butt in gear right? Haha, R&R! Till next time!**


	22. December 17th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Holy freaking reviews. Though I know a large amount of them were from one person (coughLightOf Polariscough) who was graciously leaving a review after each chapter of my story from the start. Very nice by the way, but you should have seen my e-mail inbox. I was blown away by the sheer amounts of messages ha ha. Wow, I'm glad for all the support. So thank you very much to all of you. You guys are great. (: **

**To: **_**Tali Jace **_**Finally someone has brought up the darkest power series. Yes you are right about that and yet again the Mediator series. (But I read that so very very long ago). So congrats you get a cookie haha. **

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 22. December 17th**

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_"Who are you?"_

_'I am a part of you.'_

_"But I don't understand. Are you Kikyo? How are you talking to me? This doesn't make any sense."_

_'Heed my words he can't be freed. He's too strong.'_

_"Uh, what are you talking about?" _

_'Heed my warning girl, this youkai is to never walk this earth again for he will bring a great evil.'_

_"Evil? Inuyasha is not evil. He's an arrogant prick and sure a little rough around the edges, but he hasn't ever harmed me. Even when he's turned into a full demon."_

_'Do not let—'_

_"Shut up! Be quiet! Inuyasha isn't evil. He just isn't. And he will have a second chance at living. I will save him!"_

_'Not him. He's a youkai born from the depths of hell. You cannot—'_

Kagome shot up straight in her bed, breathing heavily. Beads of cold sweat dripped from her forehead as her eyes scanned her room for any form of threat. Again there was no one, and yet again Inuyasha was standing in front of her window and looking out. Crap. There was this heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. 'I did it again, didn't I?' She didn't even have to voice her thoughts to the hanyou, he merely shot her a look.

"There are three out there. Just focus on letting them go." He said gruffly.

She honestly hated not knowing how to control these, these weird abilities of hers. It was hard enough just to control her spiritual powers, but those of a necromancer too? There weren't many clues in the book either on how to control the abilities. So what now? Just let this keep happening for the rest of her life? What happens when Inuyasha isn't around anymore to help clean up the mess? What then?

"Oi wench, wouldja quit stallin'. Hurry up and send their spirits back."

His voice broke through her mental tirade and brought her back to earth. Yeah, send back their spirits. Right. She could do that.

Closing her eyes, she brought a hand up to the necklace around her neck and held onto it. She concentrated on the little critters outside, and sent a small apology to them before sending their souls back to the other side. 'I really need to stop doing this. There has got to be a way for these nightmares to stop.' She dropped her hand away from the necklace and looked up at the hanyou by her window. Of course he wasn't there anymore and most likely outside picking up the bodies and transporting them away.

'But what can I do? I'm so stressed out with exams, ghosts, the winter formal and finding a way to set Inuyasha free. There's so much on my plate right now and plus these ridiculous dreams that I am now beginning to remember more clearly are driving me crazy!' She leaned forward into her bed and huffed loudly.

"The boys say that they don't know anything about a releasing spell." She mumbled.

-Flash-

_Miroku placed down his cup of tea. "The theory is that the spell used to contain Inuyasha was split into two parts. The first portion was given to Kagome's family as a sort of story. The second entrusted to you active hunters. Could this be possible?"_

_"Inuyasha?" Kagura mumbled._

_"Yeah, the ghost we told you about." Bankotsu answered easily._

_"Wait, you mean she can't see me?" Inuyasha asked, bluntly pointing at her with a clawed finger. "At all?"_

_"She's a Witch, not a Miko or Houshi or Hunter." Jakotsu sang._

_"Whatever." The hanyou crossed his arms. "So are the wench and houshi right? Do you guys know anything?"_

_"Well." Jakotsu mumbled worriedly. "I—"_

_"Nope." Bankotsu answered lightly, glancing quickly at his brother. "No idea."_

-Flash-

"Kikyo says that he's too evil and dangerous to set free." She mumbled again.

-Flash-

'_Heed my warning girl, this youkai is to never walk this earth again for he will bring a great evil.'_

-Flash-

'Well wait a minute. Inuyasha isn't a youkai. You'd think that the woman who used to know him and _sealed_ him away would at least refer to him as a hanyou. That is what he is technically.' Kagome pouted, now thinking that the old-priestess-illusion-thingy was being racist in someway. 'He's half human! And he has a heart!' She jumped a bit when she heard a taping at her window, then calmed herself when it was just Inuyasha ready to come back in. Carefully, she had formed a crackling barrier around her silver haired guardian, pretty proud for not having to focus so hard like she used to.

Once he was safely inside her room again, he had stuffed his hands in either of his sleeves and scowled at her. "Mind tellin' me why this keeps happening wench? 'Cause I'm getting a little annoyed at this point with the clean up duty." Purple jagged stripes were beginning to appear regularly on his cheeks now whenever he wasn't in the best of moods. Oddly enough, it was only when she was home that this would happen. And more likely than not, during the times in her room.

'Another anomaly to add to my list of stress related incidents.' She mentally added, staring at Inuyasha with her tired eyes. "It's just this dream I'm having."

He raised a brow at her, not really in the mood for something vague tonight. "Mind elaborating on that thought?"

She huffed loudly, scratching the back of her neck nervously. Maybe telling him that she's been dreaming about Kikyo lately wouldn't be the best idea. But then again, she'd be the biggest hypocrite for lying to his face about something that seems to be a little important. "Well, they started around the time when I'd be raising the dead in my sleep." She began in a mumble, looking up at him. "At first I wouldn't remember the dream. I'd just wake up. But now… ever since we talked with Bankotsu-san and Jakotsu-san, I've been gaining some of my memories back from the dream."

"Make's sense. You've been stressing recent nights about something while you sleep. That's when the little buggers would start draggin' themselves up to the house." He walked up to her and sat on the side of her bed, nodding to her. "So then, what've they been about?"

"I-it's about… Me staring in a mirror. B-but it's not me I'm staring at. It's someone else." She fidgeted, feeling her heart rate increasing. When her eyes connected with his again, she started to feel bad. His gaze urged her to continue with her story, which she did. Taking a deep breath she said, "It's actually K-Kikyo I'm starring at, I-I think."

His eyes widened. "Kik…Kikyo?" He struggled to repeat, shifting his golden orbs to some other part of her room. "Are you sure? Are you positive you're seeing Kikyo? You've never seen her before wench. She lived centuries ago—"

"I know." Kagome interrupted. "B-but she looked just like me. Except the eyes. They weren't the same as mine. Plus she was wearing one of those priestess robes and talked all old-ish."

"She spoke to you? About what?" Inuyasha urged, still keeping his gaze elsewhere.

Though she could tell that he was boiling on the inside. Despite how much effort he was putting into staying calm, she could tell that his stripes were getting more pronounced and no doubt his claws were lengthening. He was still sore when it came to the mentioning of Kikyo. "She was saying h-how I shouldn't free you. That you were evil and too dangerous."

He shot up quickly, snarling loudly at nothing but air. "Damn that bitch! Even in death she still haunts me, still sees me as a fucking monster! A pathetic half breed." He seethed, turning back around to face Kagome.

She squeaked in alarm, startled from the combination of his outburst and his appearance. He still had his golden eyes and yet they were circled with crimson, his markings visible, fangs and claws longer, more lethal. "I-Inuyasha? You need to calm down, your starting to change again." She said with a small stutter.

He grunted in return and ran a clawed hand through his silver locks. He growled lightly, closing his eyes. "Damn it, I know. I can feel my demon blood loosing control again. I-I don't know how it's happening…" He trailed off.

"It's getting worse." She added, getting up from her bed slowly to approach him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she at first let him know she was there. Next she was pulled into a snugly hug, feeling him nuzzle her neck roughly to inhale her scent. "You know." She spoke shortly after, wrapping her arms around his torso. "When she spoke to me, she never specifically said your name when she said not to release you." Kagome suddenly began to think, pulling away from him so that she could look up into his eyes again.

"She said 'Heed my warning, this youkai is to never walk this earth again for he will bring a great evil.'" She frowned in thought. "Then she said that the youkai was born from the depths of hell or something like that."

He paused, furrowing his brows as well. His demonic features had settled once more, leaving only faint marks on his cheeks, but they were gradually fading as he calmed and began to think. "That can't be. I'm a hanyou, not a youkai. She made that clear to me the day we met. And as for the whole hell thing—I was born in my mothers' castle—what the hell is she talking about?" He lowered his face closer to Kagome in an intimidating fashion. "You're positive it was Kikyo talking to you?"

Kagome puffed up her cheeks in a small pout. "Of course I'm sure! And she was being serious! It wasn't anybody else."

"Huh." He breathed, lifting his head. "Well whom would she be referring to if I'm the one who got sealed—" He stopped, connecting his gaze with Kagome's again.

"You're thinking—" She read his thought instantly.

"—That it was never _me_ she was warning you about. But the other one. The youkai who possessed me and is still sealed with my body in the sword." Inuyasha continued.

"The one that came from hell on All Hallows Eve to possess the body of a demon to wreak havoc in the human world." Kagome added. "That demon is still in there. Remember what Sesshoumaru-sama told us when we saw him? That if we released you you'd be back to the original form you were in when you were going crazy."

"If that's true, then it wouldn't be a great idea to set me free. Not if it means my loosing all control of my body again. But even so… I don't understand why Kikyo didn't just purify the thing outta me back then." He rumbled.

The young girl shook her head and sighed. "You know, by the sounds of this youkai, he must have been pretty strong to even possess you. It's got Kikyo worried. So maybe for her the only choice she had back then was to seal you both away because she wasn't strong enough to get rid of it." She reached a hand up and touched his cheek softly. "You did say that we were mates. So maybe this was all meant to happen this way. It can't just be a coincidence that we met the way we did. That I'm this juiced up miko slash necromancer that happened to stumble on you, my supposed mate."

"Wench." The hanyou purred, lacing one of his clawed hands with the one against his cheek. "It's startin' to get late. You should sleep more. You've got that school stuff in the morning."

'But, this whole mystery is starting to unravel!' She wanted to argue but instead yawned a bit and nodded at him. "You're right, this conversation is getting way too complicating for this hour in the morning." She dropped her hand form his cheek to tug him to her bed. "C'mon dog boy, the best way to get me to sleep is to have you right next to me."

"Heh, what would you do without me." He grinned behind her.

"Don't let that comment get to your head. It's easier for me to sleep when I'm next to a humanoid guard dog. Makes me feel all warm and safe." She said drowsily, parking her butt back in bed.

The hanyou chuckled. "Say whatever you want. You know the real reason is because you can't sleep without this sexy piece of ass." He slipped in next to her, rolling his eyes when the covers got pulled up and passed through his body.

"If your head gets any bigger—" She yawned again. "—You won't fit through the doorway anymore."

Again, another snort. "Haven't cha noticed? I go through objects. I don't need to worry about some doorway."

Kagome mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'arrogant dog' before falling into a deep slumber.

'Night wench.' The hanyou thought with a small smile. 'And thanks for giving me at least some hope…'

-X-

She was excited, to say the least. School had just ended and she was on her way home to get ready for the Winter Formal. Yes, it was tonight. This was the first time in a long time where she's felt like her own age. She also had a date that for once wasn't Hojo-kun. Even if she did want to go to this dance with Inuyasha, she could settle for Bankotsu-san. Besides, tonight was bound to get interesting with Inuyasha undoubtedly tagging along and all.

'He had better be good..' She looked to the side and saw his scowl, holding in her smile. Yeah, he wasn't all that happy about Bankotsu-san being her date either. But he had to look on the bright side. The hunter did have a girlfriend. So it wasn't like she was going to get hit on all night or groped. For one Inuyasha would murder him, and for another she was pretty sure Kagura was going to be there.

A beeping noise had shaken her out from her amusing thoughts, the girl barely containing her smile when she noticed the black car slowing to a stop next to her.

"Hey hon! Do you want a lift home?"

Jakotsu-san? She hadn't been expecting him. Generally Bankotsu-san had control over their car. So with a shrug, she had decided why not? It was cold out, and at this point Inuyasha just went with it since it was the flamboyant hunter, not the flirtatious one.

"Okay." She said, opening the car door and getting in quickly. She shivered a little and rolled the window up in her passenger seat since the boy had rolled it down before he showed up.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I know this car is fabulous and all, but I would kill to have electric windows installed. But what does Ban-Ban say? 'You're not wrecking this relic Jak. That's final!'" He mocked with a grumbled. He shook his head and replaced his frown with a bright smile and hummed.

"A-ah, Jakotsu-san? Where is Bankotsu-san?" Kagome asked curiously.

The boy rolled his eyes and snorted. "Ban-Ban took Gura-chan out on a coffee date. She wasn't impressed about tonight, but he did say that Inuyasha was equally as possessive of you as he was with Gura-chan. But still, she's a woman that wants at least most of his undivided attention." Again he blabbed as if it were annoying and then plastered that smile back on his face. "Anyways, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Kagome blinked and tilted her head a bit. "Uh, it's not?" She repeated a bit stupidly.

"Course not silly!" He teased. "See, the other night when Ban-Ban said that there was no way to free your boyfriend, he completely and utterly lied." He stated in exasperation. "See, I've been trying to find some time to get you alone to tell you this, but he's been keeping an eye on me. Stupid brother of mine just doesn't understand…" He muttered a strong line of curses against his brother.

So she had been lied to by Bankotsu-san? Not much of a surprise there considering it did involve Inuyasha.

"I don't understand why you're telling me all of this." Kagome said in disbelief.

He clicked his tongue and smiled weakly. "That boy toy of yours was never meant to stay in that sword forever you know. I'm sure of it. Why else would Kikyo-sama entrust our family with the other half of the spell? I personally think that she was just waiting for the right person to find him, and properly get rid of this little curse of his. And you, my dear, are the one. I know it. From the moment you found Midoriko-sama's notebook, and unlocked it without even trying, I knew you'd be the one strong enough to help that cutie half demon of yours."

"Really? So then, what is this spell?" Kagome asked excitedly.

Jakotsu hummed a bit, uncertain again. "That's the thing hon, it's in a different language. I can read it no problem and even right it down in characters that you can understand. But you need to make sure you pronounce all the words right without any slip ups. Other wise you might just split open a portal to another universe or something weird like that." He said nonchalantly.

If that was supposed to make her feel better, well it didn't. It made her a hellova lot more nervous about the whole damn thing.

I mean, jeez. Did he actually want her to release Inuyasha or was he looking into psyching her out of it?

"Don't worry. It will be fine." He spoke up, having noticed her slightly panicked gaze. "I will go over it with you."

Kagome bit her lip and peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "Then why can't you just do it? If you know the language and all, doesn't it make more sense for you to completely the spell?"

"Now hon, this is entirely your show. You started this, and you need to end it." Jakotsu giggled a bit. "And allow me to remind you exactly who is the stronger one between the two of us." He gazed at her teasingly.

Right, she was after all the Energizer Bunny version of a miko. Oh and a necromancer.

…With less pink… Pink made her look blotchy…

Shortly after that, Jakotsu-san had pulled off to the side of the road to let Kagome off at the bottom of the shrine steps. She had thanked him for the lift and waved goodbye before walking up the steps along side her hanyou. She had been stunned on how silent he was being, but then shrugged it off as him in one of his moods again. Except that when they reached the top of the steps, the two had frozen in place. For one, Inuyasha had mumbled something along the lines of, "The hell? A Kitsune." And for another, Kagome had recognized the boy that was standing there.

It was the same kid she had played with when she went to the pumpkin farm on Halloween.

'What was his name again?' Kagome thought, staring at him in wonder. He was facing away from her, staring at the shrine. For some reason she felt a bit of a shiver. 'Why is he staring like that? It's like he sees something.' She began to walk forward when Inuyasha stopped her, pulling her back roughly by the elbow.

"Are you stupid? That kid isn't human ya know. He's got a charm on."

Kagome growled at him. "I don't care. I know him. He isn't all bad."

The boy ahead of them had turned around sharply, his emerald eyes landing on Kagome briefly in fright. Then he started to run like hell away from them. And where was the best place to loose a human? In the woods surrounding the property of course.

Kagome shot Inuyasha a look and chased after the kid, feeling the half demon jump ahead to find a way to stop him in his tracks. "Wait!" She called out to the kid, her breath quickly becoming short. 'Jeez, I really need to work on my endurance.' She thought. Suddenly, she remembered the name of the boy from the farm. How could she have forgotten such a cute little guy's name? "Shippou-chan! Please wait!" She yelled.

"O-o-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Kagome heard a yelled of pain, knowing that it wasn't Inuyasha's voice made her eyes narrow. Just as she thought, she had found the orange haired boy sitting in the snow, holding his knee and bawling his eyes out. Placing her hands on her hips, she had looked up at the grinning Inuyasha and had wiped that look off his face.

"You didn't have to hurt him Inuyasha!"

"The brat wouldn't stop!" Inuyasha barked to his defense. "Besides all I did was trip him with a branch. He's just being a big baby."

"Are you kidding me? Look at him, he _is_ just a baby!"

"He's a demon!"

"Oh just shut up and _sit_!" Kagome yelled at him. She shifted her attention from the face planted half demon to the small boy that was looking curiously up at her. Of course he had stopped crying and had just witnessed her yelling at Inuyasha.

"Who were y-you talking to?" Shippou sniffled, looking around the woods for anyone other than them.

Aw damn, make that talking to _thin air_.

In the ground, Inuyasha's muffled laughs sounded. He forced himself out of the snow and pointed a clawed finger at the kid. "A Kitsune who can't see spirits? He must be the weakest demon I have ever seen!"

Kagome shot him another look that clearly said 'shut up or face the sit command', and then turned back to Shippou. "Um, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me." She laughed nervously at the kid. "Say, do you remember me Shippou-chan?"

"Remember you?" He repeated. "Oh yeah… you were that cool lady that played with me!"

"Lemme guess. You played tricks on humans." Inuyasha snorted, rolling his eyes. "Common Kitsune behaviour at that age."

"That right!" Kagome beamed at Shippou, ignoring Inuyasha. "Do you mind telling me why you were looking at my home a while ago?"

"You live h-here?" He blinked innocently. "I-I didn't know that."

'So he didn't come to find me? He just ended up at the Shrine?' She cleared her throat and crouched down to the boys level. "That's right, this is the Higurashi Shrine. Was there something you needed? The way you were looking at it…"

"It's because there's something weird there." He blurted, looking away with a blush.

'Weird?' Kagome mentally repeated, exchanging looks with Inuyasha. "What do you mean?"

Shippou bit his lip. "You wouldn't believe me."

Ah. Of course. The classic grown up scenario.

"I'm sure I would if you gave me a chance." Kagome cooed. Obviously she was open to anything and everything. Hell, between the whole demon thing and ghost gig she had going on, it would take something pretty out there to make her lose her faith in a kid.

"Th-then will you tell me who you were taking to?" Shippou asked eagerly.

"Sure!" Kagome smiled brightly, sticking out her hand to him. "You can trust me Shippou-chan."

He hesitated for a moment, but then grabbed her hand. She had pulled him up from the snow and they had begun to walk back towards the Shrine, Inuyasha ahead of them so that she knew they were going the right way. "I'm hearing a weird noise. It's like it's calling to us."

"Us?" Kagome asked.

Shippou coughed and stuttered. "U-uh y-yeah u-um I meant me! M-me."

"You know Shippou-chan, you can be honest with me. Don't worry."

"B-but—"

"Just tell him already that you can see spirits and that he's a half ass excuse for a fox demon!" Inuyasha bellowed from up front.

Kagome shot him a glare and cursed Inuyasha under her breath.

"Inuyasha? You said that name before." Shippou looked up inquisitively at Kagome. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Or something." Kagome said bitterly. "He's actually the one leading us out of here right now. Just walking in front of us."

"But no one is there."

Well, here it goes.

"Well, you see, he's a spirit. I can see the dead because I'm a priestess. And you, I can tell are wearing a charm." She smiled warmly. "So you see, you don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you Shippou-chan. Just tell me what you've been hearing please."

"Really? You're a priestess? Wow!" He jumped excitedly. "Papa said there aren't many of you left! So that means you know th-that I'm a…"

"Fox demon?" Kagome answered, shaking her head. "Actually Inuyasha told me. He's been pretty rude about it though." She glared ahead. "He's a dog demon—"

"W-wait! Are you talking about the dog demon that got trapped in that sword? That Inuyasha?" Shippou asked. "My Papa would always tell me that story, to warn me when I got older not to be stupid on nights like Halloween and to stay away from ghosts." He cringed. "I-I can't even see them yet b-but they sound scary."

"They can be. Inuyasha isn't though. He only wishes he could be."

Ahead, the hanyou snorted. "I scared _you_, didn't I?"

"Only in the beginning!" Kagome snapped up at him. "And besides, if it weren't for that I would have never gone to the Pumpkin Farm and met Shippou-chan." She patted his red hair lovingly. "So, want to tell me what this noise is?"

"Right!" Shippou nodded. "I just started to hear it on my way home from school. But no one else can hear it, so maybe it's just me… But… B-but it felt like it was calling to all of us. I m-mean demons. Like only demons can hear it."

"Somethin' demons can hear? I don't hear a damn thing. Unless this kid can hear it because he hasn't developed such a sensitivity to the supernatural yet." Inuyasha reasoned, sighing loudly. "Either way, the kid is probably imagining things. Just send the brat home already. We've got more important things to worry about." He stepped out of the forest and back onto the Shrine grounds.

"Inuyasha, you're not being fair. Maybe he really is hearing something." Kagome argued gently. Tugging Shippou out of the forest, she had looked him over to make sure he hadn't harmed himself from any twigs.

"I am! I _can_ hear it!" Shippou sniffled; his eyes watering up with unshed tears.

"Look, we can talk to him later. It's getting late and you have some stupid thing to get ready for tonight." Inuyasha turned around and glared at the boy. "Get him to go home."

Kagome crouched down again and rubbed Shippou's cheek softly. "Shippou-chan, I believe you. But tonight I do have some plans I need to get ready for. Why don't you go home now, I'll even make sure Inuyasha follows you home and keeps you safe."

"I'm not following—"

Kagome glared at him. Her blue eyes sending icicles of death at him. "You are walking him home. It's not like it'll be that hard. Just keep him safe."

"Keh! Like I have a choice."

"Be safe, okay Shippou-chan?" Kagome's eyes widened when he hugged her, but she was happy to return it.

The boy nodded against her. "Please be careful Kagome. I don't like this sound. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine. I promise. Now go." She whispered, waving him off. But truth be told, she was actually very worried about this warning. If there really was some sort of signal or noise being set off to demons that weren't spiritually aware, wouldn't that mean it could potentially bring disaster right in her front yard?

When Inuyasha had left to accompany the young fox demon home, Kagome began to have small doubts. Just in case, she had marched up to her house and set another form of defence around it. A beautiful crackling barrier only visible to those whom carried the abilities to see the dead. With this extra form of protection, she felt confident about leaving tonight to go to the Winter Formal. Her family would be safe in case something did happen. Just what she needed to calm her nerves.

Except…

"Nee-san… last I checked, our house didn't glow like this. Did you put up the Christmas lights when I wasn't looking?" Came Souta's voice from the other side of the bathroom door.

She was currently working on her makeup, thinking that she might as well look like a knock out tonight if she was going to wear that dress. "Mou, go away Souta."

"But nee-san!" Souta whined. "What's with the lights? What's around our house, and why is Inuyasha-onii-san behind it?"

She dropped her eye shadow brush on the counter, slamming open the door. "Inuyasha is back?" She asked, having completely forgotten that with the additional protection, there really was no way in hell he'd be able to get back into her house. Crap. _Crap_. She had locked out her guard dog with an electric fence and solid doors. 'I should have done this after he returned.' She rushed downstairs, opening the front door and walking out in her socks.

To say it was chilly would be an understatement.

She was freaking frozen solid!

"'Bout damn time!" The hanyou complained loudly, giving her a highly annoyed look. "If I were alive right now, I might be very cold."

She rolled her eyes. "Cry me a river." In reality, she felt a little bad. Poor guy, just standing out here, hoping to be let in. She focused her gaze on the particular spot where he stood, opening the barrier enough to let him walk through without much of a problem. Then she closed it back up, deciding to smooth out her barrier a little bit so that it wouldn't alarm Souta anymore. It wasn't as bright or sparking, but she could feel that it was still just as sturdy. 'Good enough.'

"Mind telling me what this is all about? Did I miss something?"

She wordless covered him in a protective barrier, walking back into the warmth of her home and closing the door. She shivered violently before beginning to feel the real heat from the house. "I just want to be safe. If I'm going somewhere and another demon thinks my house is emitting a sound to lure demons, I want to make sure my family is well protected."

He was silent. And actually, he ended up nodding along in agreement. "You're right, that is a good idea. Good thinking wench."

'Well that's a first. He never compliments me like that.' Kagome blinked. Maybe it was the makeup? Oh yeah! She had to finish up!

As she was running up the stairs again, Kagome's mother had told her that dinner would be ready a little late tonight. To which she replied that she'd be having dinner at the Formal, so there wasn't any need for her to cook tonight for more than three people. Kagome's mother had turned to Inuyasha, cocking her head to the side.

"I forgot about that. But, how are you going to go with her?"

Inuyasha pointed to himself and shook his head. "Not me." He pronounced slowly.

"Oh." She blinked. "I see. Well do you want to sit in the kitchen with me? I'm baking cookies." She beamed, taking him away to the kitchen while Kagome finished getting ready.

When the miko was done, she had made her way downstairs in a bit of rush, carrying her strappy heels and purse. Looking up, she had frozen in her place, feeling Inuyasha look her completely over _slowly_. 'Is it me, or am I detecting some hidden desire in those eyes of his.' She thought. Unfortunately, the moment hadn't lasted all that long. That smouldering look had been completely replaced with a scowl and a bit of anger. Right, 'cause she was going out with Bankotsu-san, not him.

Always jealous.

But she didn't mind it. At least not now. She was in too good a mood to let his little tantrum ruin her night.

"You look beautiful honey." Mrs. Higurashi gushed. "Who will you be going with tonight?"

"Just some guy from school. No biggie." She brushed off.

When the doorbell rang, it was her mother whom had answered. She had invited Bankotsu inside to warm up, announcing to Kagome that her date had arrived. Passing by her daughter she had given Inuyasha an apologetic look, feeling that he would have been the best one to go out with her not this other boy.

"Well well, aren't you lovely tonight." Bankotsu-san winked. "Though I did invite Kagura, she said something about not being interested in childish dances. So she's staying home instead."

Oh, well this would be interesting. Now Inuyasha would most definitely make a fuss all evening.

"Luckily though." Bankotsu began with a grin. "I'm feeling a bit generous tonight." His gaze passed Kagome and stared straight at the pissed off hanyou behind her. "I am willing to share her tonight if you want. I give you full permission to attempt to take possession of my body, Inuyasha."

Kagome gasped, turning to Inuyasha. "That's a great idea!"

She could actually dance with him. Dine with him.

It could be as if Inuyasha really were her date!

"No." He grunted out. "I refuse to jump in some hunters dirty body."

…

Well there go her hopes.

"Suite yourself." Bankotsu shrugged, strolling out of Kagome's house and holding the door open for her. "After you, gorgeous."

Kagome smiled weakly, putting on her heals and wrapping her coat around herself. "Ittekimasu!" She yelled back.

"Itterashai!" Mrs. Higurashi shouted back.

Then they left, Inuyasha of course following too.

Tonight was bound to be interesting, that was for sure. However the two-type ability woman had remotely no idea of just _how_ eventful tonight was going to be.

No idea whatsoever.

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**A/N How's that? Pretty quick update eh? Soon, it will be all over. Sadly, but at the same time I'll be glad. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Till next time! (: R&R!**


	23. Evening of December 17th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Thank you so much for your reviews. I love to read them, they make me smile. You guys are all amazing and yes it will be very sad when this fic comes to an end. But for now, look forward to reading this chapter. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to leave a lovely review. Happy Holidays! (:**

**Italics are some flashbacks, phone conversations, and stuff mkay? Awesome. (:**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 23. Evening of December 17th**

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They could be dancing right now.

Not that she was minding dancing with Bankotsu-san or even Jakotsu-san. They were great. But…

Why the freaking heck did she have to fall so hard for a moronic, more-stubborn-than-any-mule-alive, temperamental, and let's not forget sexier than hell half dog demon? Why?

… She must have been dropped on her head as a child.

'Why can't he just swallow his pride and try this whole 'possession' thing? Stupid hanyou.' She shot glares at him from across the room. He would look so handsome in a suit. But of course he was permanently stuck in those gaudy red clothes of his. 'Someday.'

"You know, it's awfully rude to be ignoring your date. I feel like you're cheating on me." Bankotsu teased. He had also glanced over to the brooding half demon, rolling his eyes at the childish behaviour. "It's his own fault for not taking up the offer. But I guess it is just like him. It's a family thing. His brother is just the same." A frown twisted at his lips.

"Lucky me." Kagome groaned. "But it's okay I guess. It wouldn't be like him to give in like this all the time." She sighed loudly, not that you could hear it over the loud music.

Aside from the grumpy ghost in the corner, the whole evening was turning out pretty well. Dinner had been fantastic for what they paid for. The decorations were beyond beautiful and sparkly (considering they were in the gym and all), she had felt like she had walked into a winter wonderland. The music was well chosen and a perfect balance of slow and colourful beats. She was enjoying herself, albeit not to the fullest, but that was okay.

Hell even Miroku and Sango were letting loose and having a ball. She had never seen Sango smile so much in one night. The Monk wasn't even misbehaving either, almost like he was sucking up to the Hunter. Maybe because she looked so pretty tonight? Or maybe because he didn't want to cut their 'close time' too short with his antics. Jeez, that boy really needed to suck it up and properly ask Sango-san out. It was obvious to the world that they adored each other despite all the fighting they've done in the past.

'_Oh you mean just like you and Mr-I'm-too-sexy-for-my-body sulking over there?'_ Whispered a small voice in the back of Kagome's head.

'Oh yeah, Inuyasha. That is how it all started, isn't it? Us hating each other, but undeniably being attracted to one another.' Kagome's eyes finally found his, and she held his gaze for a little while. Almost as if in a trance. He had really pretty eyes. They could make her legs go weak if she stared long enough.

"Hey Kagome-chan? You're zoning out again." Bankotsu chuckled. "Am I really that boring?"

The multi ability girl blinked, clearing her thoughts, and looked up at her date. "Eh?" She mumbled, still somewhat zoned out. "I'm sorry I didn't catch that."

"Does dog boy over there really distract you that much? Jeez the mutt should have just done what I said then." The hunter cursed under his breath.

When their dance had finished, the two had walked back to their table for a small break for refreshments. Kagome had held in her giggles when she had spotted Kouga-sensei not too far away dancing with a giggly Ayame-hime. They were part of the chaperone group; though it was very unlikely that Ayame-hime was going to let Kouga-sensei go anywhere to split up any lovey dovey couples. She was apparently much too content with sucking the life out of him in a deathly hug.

Bankotsu-san laughed loudly at the scene, shifting his eyes over to look at Kagome. "You know, I'm glad you aren't one of those girls. I've had to deal with my fair share of fan girls that would die to be hugging me like that one." He jabbed his thumb at the couple. "It's not fun at all. Hell I'd rather be hunting then getting near a crazy girl like that."

"It's adorable though. And once they settle their feelings, I'm sure Ayame-hime will calm down." Kagome defended.

"Ayame-hime? Just how much have I missed while being gone?" Bankotsu asked, starring at the couple now with a new light. "I know they're demons. But how do you know them?"

"Oh, well it's not me that knows them completely. They're Inuyasha's friends from the Sengoku Jidai. They've been keeping an eye on us since you left to make sure we were safe and stuff." Kagome shrugged off. 'Course I'm not gunna say it was under Sesshoumaru-sama's orders since I know just how you feel about him..'

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Yea, actually Ayame-hime made quite the noisy entrance. And Kouga-sensei has been a really great help. He's actually a pretty decent guy when you get to know him. Inuyasha doesn't seem to think so, but then again you know him." She rolled her eyes with a small laugh.

"Unfortunately all too well. He needs to lighten up once in awhile." Bankotsu shook his head.

"Yea… Hey so how come Kagura-san isn't here tonight?" Kagome asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Bankotsu grunted, scratching the back of his neck. "She just said that she wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this. Not her style. That and she said something about a ritual and stuff. I dunno, I was too mesmerized by her beauty to even pay attention."

Kagome giggled. "You sound like a love sick puppy my friend."

"Tch, maybe I am…" Bankotsu said, a little smile at his lips. "She is amazing you know. She—"

"Ban-Ban! Gome-chan!" Jakotsu's giggles could be heard above all the music. He had pushed his way through the crowds of people, and yanked a chair back from the tables so that he could sit down. "Whew, it is so exhausting dancing this much." He fanned himself. "Oh and by the way, you didn't hear it from me but I spotted Miro-kun and Sango-chan in one of the far corners getting it on." He winked at Kagome.

What! No way were they making out! This couldn't be… Well no it _could_ be… Wow, she would have to harass Sango-san for the details later. 'All of the details.' Kagome thought with a wry grin. "That's some news." She smiled. "I—"

"You're phone is ringing."

Kagome twisted in her seat to look up at the grumbling Inuyasha whom had his arms crossed and was looking down at her softly. One of his ears twitched, the hanyou staring expectantly at her. "Wh-what? My phone?" The girl repeated a bit slowly.

"What the hell did I just say?" Inuyasha grunted with a roll of his eyes.

Right, 'cause he had his super inhuman hearing. He could hear her cell ringing well before she could even tell someone was calling her.

Still though… Way to be a jerk about it!

Sighing, the girl had turned back to her table and reached over for her clutch. She had opened it up and pulled out her cell phone that was now flashing a missed call. 'Huh? From home? Why would they be calling me now?'

"Something wrong hon?" Jakotsu asked worriedly.

The miko slash necromancer shook her head. "No, just a missed call. I'll be back. I'm just going to call them back outside the gym." She pushed her chair and stood up, walking away with her phone in her grip and her hanyou trailing behind her. She didn't have to even look back to know that he was glaring at Bankotsu as if daring him to follow. 'Typical jealous male behaviour.' She shoved open the door to get out of the gym, exiting and standing far enough away so that she couldn't hear the booming music.

She didn't even have to dial in the numbers on her phone, because soon after exiting the gym, it started ringing again.

It was the house number.

What could they possibly need to tell her at this very moment? They knew she had a lift home plus Inuyasha as her trusty guard dog.

"Moshi Moshi." Kagome answered politely, but inwardly felt very annoyed.

"_Kagome-chan!"_ Her mothers' frantic voice shouted. _"Something is happening!"_ There was another voice on the other side, sounding much like her brother whom had asked for the phone.

"_Kagome-onee-san!"_ Came his voice too.

"Souta, Mama, what's wrong? What are you talking about?" Kagome asked, her eyes connecting with Inuyasha's in a silent plea.

_"There's these monsters outside the house! Lots of them! But that pink thing is keeping them away! Help! Gramps is about to go out and try something—!"_

You have got to be kidding. Why tonight? _Why?_

"I'll be back, tell them not to leave the house." Inuyasha grunted, his figure quickly dispersing.

Kagome nodded. "Listen, everyone stay inside. No one is to leave the house. You're safe in there as long as the barrier stays up."

"_Barrier? Is that what that is?"_ Souta asked.

"Yes now stay—"

_"—Inuyasha-onii-san is standing outside! H-he doesn't look happy—Hey wait, he's gone."_ Souta said, his voice wavering over the line. _"Nee-san, I'm scared."_

"Don't worry. I'm coming back right now. Just stay inside, okay?" Kagome said gently.

"_Y-yeah."_

So much for a shot at a normal teenage life for a single evening. This was a disaster, no, a failure to launch. She could just see her life crumbling before her eyes.

Oh gods, she would get harassed by the girls tomorrow.

She shuddered at the thought of their angry faces surrounded by hell fire.

"Okay, now I'm going to hang up. But I will be home very soon. I just need to grab the others and we're on our way. Just go sit in the living room and put in a movie."

"_Ok-okay."_ Souta stuttered. _"Th-thanks onee-san."_ Then, he hung up the phone.

Kagome shut her phone just as Inuyasha returned, looking very grim. "So? What is it?" 'Please tell me he's just hallucinating. Please tell me it's not really happening.'

"Demons. A hell of a lot too." He growled. "Hate to say this, but we need everyone."

_God damn!_ Why was the world against her?

"You get Sango-san and Miroku-san, I'll get the boys." Kagome said, the two splitting up from there.

Oh Kami, so much for a peaceful night. And she had a sick feeling that her dress wouldn't be looking so hot in the next fifteen minutes.

But that was just a hunch of course.

-X-

They were all sitting in the car, tense, cursing. Thank god they were in Bankotsu's car, because he was the one with the bag of toys in the trunk that could help them. Not that Kagome needed anything. It was the Hunters that needed all that stuff, and possibly Miroku.

"Why the hell have they gathered at your house Kagome? Do you know why, at all?" Bankotsu's eyes were looking right at her from the rear view mirror, and then glanced back to the road.

_"I just started to hear it on my way home from school. But no one else can hear it, so maybe it's just me… But… B-but it felt like it was calling to all of us. I m-mean demons. Like only demons can hear it."_

"A boy that I know stopped by today. He said something about a weird noise that he could hear. Something that was drawing him to my house. He was a young fox demon, claimed that it was some demon related sound. I-I don't know. I have no idea what he was talking about. But now apparently my house is surrounded by them and we need to move faster!" Kagome blurted, a little bit in hysterics considering this was her family they were talking about.

Miroku was frowning at his own reflection in the window, equally confused and frustrated about this matter. What could possibly be creating a signal to lour youkai to Kagomes' house? Especially since she wasn't even home to draw them near. She hadn't even been using her powers insanely like she had in the past. Everything was well under control.

So what then?

"You said your family is safe?" Sango questioned, just to be sure.

Kagome bit her lip, nodding. "Y-yes. I had placed a barrier around the house before I left. It's very strong, so it should hold back the creatures long enough for us to arrive." It was taking every ounce of self-control not to let her powers go berserk right now. She was clenching her fists, focusing on random objects, trying to settle her mind. Everything was being done right now. Because the important thing at this very moment was to remain composed.

"Almost there hon, just stay calm." Came Jakotsu's voice from the passengers seat.

Were these the demons that had escaped from hell? The ones that the boys had missed? Or were these new ones?

Why, why did they have to appear now? They—

The car came to an abrupt halt.

"We're here." Jakotsu announced.

She didn't even wait five seconds. She just unbuckled and shoved at Jakotsu's seat. The boy had gotten out fairly quickly, to her pleasure, which mean that she could get out as well.

And man oh man, was it ever freaking cold out! Her with her little dress, little jacket, strappy heels and of course her favourite part. No, not tights but yes… Pantyhose. Needless to say, the run up the steps were torture for mostly her feet. That and she had of course not even thought of formulating a plan of any sort. The only thoughts going through her head were killing those things before they even remotely got near her family. Oh and her frozen feet.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. The boy had appeared next to her as soon as she had reached the top of the stairs. Now where was he when she had been running up those stairs? She was and ice cube from all this snow and—

"What are you doing running in those? Are you stupid?" The hanyou barked, picking the girl up and holding her bridal style for the rest of the way back towards the house. "Do you want to freeze to death?"

"Just be quiet and tell m-me what's happening!" Kagome yelled back, already having caught sight of some of the flying demons.

"They're still safe. But there is something weird happening with your room." Inuyasha said mildly, leaping above a portion of the shrine and landing near the well house. He leapt once more in the air.

"What do you—" She cut herself off when they came to a halt nearly in front of her home. The first things she noticed were the circling, flying demons. Next were the ones that were crawling around, which there weren't as many of. Thirdly, was the darkest, and thickest black aura she had ever seen pooling out from her bedroom window. If she had to guess anything, she'd say that the noise or signal or whatever was coming from there.

"What is… _That_?" She was placed back on her feet, and took a small, uncertain step forward.

"I dunno. Is there anything in your room that could possibly cause something like that?" Inuyasha asked.

"No, I—" Kagome again cut herself off, a distant memory resurfacing.

_…She had even put the old box back into storage with all the sutras plastered back on in the same spots. Though she had secretly put the Tessaiga under her bed knowing it would be good to have it on hand._

"Oh god." She swallowed hard.

So much for that theory. Good to have it _her ass_.

"Kagome-chan!" She could hear Sango yell from afar. Looked like they were coming after all, tools and everything.

Which was fantastic considering the obvious mistake the woman had made concerning the Tessaiga. Now look at where she had gotten herself. In her own yard, full of foul youkai and evil auras.

Kami, how could she have been so stupid? The signs had been there! The irritation, the unbalanced demonic aura, the heavy air… All of it! Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Why hadn't she realized the reasoning behind all those sutras in the first place?

They were used to lock away a powerful demon. Not just Inuyasha, but the thing that took over his body. A very powerful monster created from _the_ depths of hell.

"Glad you decided to wait for us before attacking the hordes." Came Miroku's light joke, though it had done nothing to lighten the mood. "What's wrong? Aside from the demons here. Why is she like this? And what is that black cloud!"

"The hell could create such a foul aura?" Bankotsu cringed, dropping his duffel bag to the ground.

"Wench?" Inuyasha tilted his head to the side. "What are you thinking?"

All eyes were on her, she knew it. She could feel it. Her own stupidity was what got her into this whole mess. "The Tessaiga is in my room, under my bed." She spoke up weakly.

"What?" Bankotsu asked. "Care to repeat that?"

Inuyasha shot him a glare, but equally wanted to know what she was talking about. "Kagome?"

The multi ability girl shook her head and cursed. "The Tessaiga is currently under my bed, without any form of seals. It's been that way since Halloween. I didn't think anything of it except now—"

"Aw crap." Bankotsu ran a hand through his bangs. "I never thought you did that. I was kinda under the impression it was safely tucked away. Not under your bed. Do you realize what's been done? Without those seals, that thing in there has slowly been juicing itself up to break free. It's most likely causing the sound that is attracting these monsters. It needs them to break free."

"Break free? But he's sealed!" Kagome shouted.

"Yeah, and so was he!" He jabbed a thumb at Inuyasha. "But you brought him out, so what's stopping that creep? He only possessed the body. And if you hadn't noticed, by using half the spell to get him out, you ended up weakening the whole thing overall. Without any new seals it can find a way to release it's own spirit from the sword and can take possession of any of these demons and get himself a new body!" Bankotsu all but yelled.

Of course this had naturally made Kagome feel worse. Again… Baka baka baka! She was ready to create her own cloud of misery over her head when Sango-san had spoken up to her defence.

"Then we fix the problem." The female Hunter cut in darkly. "We kill the demons, and end this so-called great evil demon, now."

"Sango-san…" Kagome mumbled weakly. "Even if we do manage to kill these things. How are we going to stop the sword?" 'Kami, this is my entire fault. I should have been paying more attention to everything. Here I go thinking I'm all well trained and much better at this unwanted job when I get this thrown in my face. A real Miko would have known about the Tessaiga. A real Miko would not have made these mistakes. Kikyo-san… or even Midoriko-sama would have known.' She thought solemnly. 'They would have stopped it in a heartbeat.'

"You guys take care of the flesh demons." Inuyasha spoke up.

All eyes were on him now, some not quite understanding what he was proposing.

"Look, I can't fight this battle as I am. I'm useless when it comes to this. But I can do something." He stared down now at Kagome, his eyes telling her how intent he was on protecting her. "I can return to the Tessaiga, and hold him back. That would give you enough time to seal it again and end this."

They were still silently gazing at him, the Hunters somewhat convinced about this plan. But before they could even utter a word Kagome had fiercely rejected the idea.

"No way! I'm not loosing you because of something as stupid as this!" She yelled. "How could you even suggest that? You are not going back. The point of this is to set you free not the other way around."

"Wench—" Inuyasha tried to speak.

"I said no! I won't have it!"

He wasn't going to leave her.

"But Kagome it's the only—" His words were lodged in his throat when he felt the familiar burning warmth surround him. This had been the same feeling he had received before he got his sorry ass blown into the sky and turned human.

She wouldn't let him.

"I told you." She began, closing her eyes to take in a deep breath. She reopened them, her blue orbs highlighted with a rim of pink. "I won't loose you." She had already formed her bow in her hand, its bright light catching the attention of both the circling youkai above and bellow. "I will free you. I promise. And until then, these pathetic excuses for demons can kiss. My. Ass." She growled inhumanly, raising her bow and drawing back the string, forming an arrow.

As if these pathetic creatures ruined her night. Her one possible chance at a normal evening event.

They were going to pay for it.

Especially that nameless youkai in the Tessaiga. He would feel her wrath.

Roaring sky demons had begun their decent, but were quickly blown away by the sheer ferocity of power that came from the single arrow that had been shot. She had easily taken fifteen plus demons down, quickly alerting the others of her strength. This in turn drew their attention strictly to her, most wanting to devour her flesh to gain more power.

"Well then." Jakotsu mused, unravelling the weapon he had brought with him. He had revealed a curved sword, a small grin tugging at his lips. "I guess this means the game is on."

Bankotsu chuckled as well. "I wish I had brought my Banryuu. But a shot gun filled with salt shells will do just fine for now." He heaved his gun over his shoulder and nodded at Sango and Miroku. "We'll take care of the small fry. You guys get the flying ones."

"Wench—" The hanyou tried again, but was quickly silenced.

"Just shut up, and let me protect you for a change." Kagome smirked, a look that was clearly stolen from him.

He couldn't help but feel a wave of warmth from her, and not due to her increasing spiritual powers either. This was different for him. He felt truly cared for by this woman. By his woman. It surprised him greatly because the truth was; Kikyo had never done such a thing for him. He had always been the one adamant about protecting her and her village. She had never tried to protect him from anything. Hell the best she'd ever done was seal him, other demon and all, into his own damn sword.

'Kagome…' Just thinking her name brought a smile to his face. He had done well when choosing his mate. This was definitely it. His love.

"Here we go!" Jakotsu laughed loudly. "I haven't had this much fun in ages!" He twirled his sword, half making others wonder why he was in charge of taking down the flying demon along side of Kagome.

Well, were they ever surprised. As it turned out, his sword had multiple blades attached to each other that made it extend quite the distance. He could easily behead a demon, and then it would shortly be purified and turned to ash by Kagome's arrow.

Well damn, all Sango-san and Miroku-san had to work with were sutras, salt and a small katana that Sango barely knew how to wield. Though it seemed that she wasn't having too much trouble slicing through anything considering her natural strength. And Miroku would then as well purify the small demon corpses and render them to ash. This way, no evidence would be left for any humans to find.

The miko slash necromancer had pulled back her bowstring yet again, super charging it with her spiritual powers. She was hell bent on protecting her precious people. Ranging from her family to her friends to Inuyasha. Especially him. He meant too much to her not only as her favourite guard dog, but also as her most trustworthy friend, and loved one. She couldn't possibly live without him in her life. Everything would be too dull and lifeless. She needed him.

'I will always protect you. All of you. This is my mistake, and I will make up for it. So please, let his power of mine become useful for once. And help me get rid of all of these monsters. I want them gone!' She mentally shouted, her blue eyes narrowing on her many targets. And she would get them all.

"Go back to where you came from and leave my family alone. Forever!" She hadn't even noticed the amount of spark in her arrow until she had sent it flying at the enemies. If it weren't for the fact that normal humans couldn't see spiritual powers, then she was positive the whole city would have seen this fabulous light show at the top of the Higurashi Shrine. Her arrow of light had created a small explosion of light, successfully cascading down and purifying all demonic creatures that had been crawling around her property.

Safe for Inuyasha of course who had been covered at the last minute with one of her trusted barriers.

Go her.

Once the light had died down, the teens were stunned into silence.

"Way to go Kagome-chan." Sango said first, a smirk twisting at her lips. "I never realized how much you had it in you."

Kagome had waved the barrier containing Inuyasha away, willing a tired smile at her lips. "Same to you, Sango-san. I didn't know you could fight with a katana."

She merely shrugged, brushing some pieces of burnt flesh off of her dress. "I just knew I guess. These ones also gave me a few pointers the other day during one of our training sessions." She motioned to the other hunters, earning a wink from Jakotsu and chuckled from Bankotsu.

"Don't start celebrating yet. We still have that to deal with." Miroku spoke up, pointing to the black cloud behind Kagome's barrier. "We need to stop that thing somehow before more demons decide to pop in for a pleasant visit."

"I vote we finish this now." Jakotsu piped happily.

"No, Jak are you insane—"

"Oh Ban-Ban, have a little faith, will you? You know this is the right thing to do." Jakotsu whined a bit. "And besides, I'm the one who knows the spells, so really, the decision is up to me and I already told Gome-chan."

"Wh-what? When did you—God damn Jak." Bankotsu cursed.

Miroku approached Sango, helping her dust herself off while checking her over for any signs of wounds. "What are you two talking about? Is there something we missed?" He asked, finally wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against him. He was completely aware that she was still handling a katana and made sure not to drop his hands any lower than her waist line.

Bankotsu only sighed loudly and nodded in defeat. "Yeah, I lied the other night about setting that thing free." He shot a small glare at Inuyasha.

The hanyou growled in response to the glare and stepped up next to Kagome. "You mean to say that this whole time you knew the full spell? And said shit about it?"

Jakotsu nodded. "I suppose. But to be fair, we were gone for a little bit. And I preferred to hand over the spell once I knew you weren't all bad and that you two would get along." He drawled out with a sneaky smile. "Oh and Ban-Ban was completely against it, but I wasn't going to let him have his way at all to begin with."

"You conniving—" Bankotsu started, but ended it with another sigh. "Grah. You are so hopeless when it comes to your match making Jak."

"I just like happy endings." Jakotsu defended with a pout. "So, in conclusion I know how to set Prince Inuyasha free. But the only thing is that we need to be fully prepared to do this. It will take a bit of work to prepare and your absolute focus to accomplish this Gome-chan, because this time around it will depend more on your Necromancer abilities and not your spiritual ones."

Her Necromancer powers?

Could she really do it? She wasn't all that trained when it came to that half of her life. She just could barely understand the fundamentals of it all. But if it was the only way to help Inuyasha…

"Let's do it."

-X-

"Onee-san! Where are you going? Are the monsters gone?"

Kagome smiled at her younger brother, patting him on the head. "Don't worry, you're all safe. Just stay in the house while I'm gone okay? I just need to change first, but I'm going to need to leave for a bit."

Yeah, cause her toes were most likely frost bitten by now. Stupid heels, stupid pantyhose!

"L-leave? But it's the middle of the night—" Souta tried to argue.

"Don't worry kid, she's with me." Inuyasha stood next to him, arms stuffed in either of his sleeves. "Wench, go change and grab the Tessaiga. And be careful." He warned, watching her go upstairs to her room where the dark cloud seeped slowly from under her door.

When Kagome had opened it, the cloud had instantly been purified wherever she stepped, the darkness slowly retreated back to the old, sheathed katana. Kagome had changed from her gorgeous dress into some jeans, a t-shirt and a sweater. She had put on some cozy long socks (two pairs actually) and grabbed a hat from her closest with some gloves. Her scarf and coat were already downstairs waiting for her, so she didn't bother pulling out a different jacket or scarf.

Crouching down next to her bed, she had peeked under, eyes widening at the dark aura surrounding the Tessaiga. 'There you are. You trouble maker.' She reached for it, dragging it out from under her bed. Standing up, she had walked over to her desk and shuffled her things around until she came across some extra sutras from when she set them up around her house. She infused two with an extra boost of her practically endless power before sticking them on the Tessaiga, silencing the crying demon blade.

'Take that, you stupid life altering youkai.' She mentally sneered at him.

They had left the house together, the girl keeping her extra barrier up around the house just to be safe. Though somehow she knew that for now no more demons would bother them for the evening.

They had first stopped at the Antique store, deciding to merely keep the Tessaiga there until tomorrow night. They didn't want to further endanger her family and figured this was the safest place imaginable for the blade to rest. Next they had gone over to Miroku-san's house where Jakotsu-san began to teach Kagome the final portion of the releasing spell. That's where they had spent most of their night.

The others had long ago fallen asleep by the time Kagome had called it a night. It was well into the hours of the early morning and they still had to attend school… Well not really but it was _recommended_ that they did to pick up any final notes and hints for the upcoming exams.

The brothers had escorted Kagome home at around three AM. Sango-san had decided to sleep over at Miroku-san's and Bankotsu-san was currently slouched over in the passengers seat, dozing off. Jakotsu-san had been kind enough to let her out of the car and the rest had been up to Inuyasha from there. He had carried the exhausted miko up to her Shrine, across the vast grounds until they reached the outside of the barrier. If it weren't for the fact that he was a ghost and provided no form of warmth, he would have just been fine with wrapping her up in his haorie and sleeping inside the well house with her pressed up against him for heat.

Instead though, he had to shake her a bit so that she could open up the new barrier to first let them near the house. Well more like let him near the house since he was the demonic ghost and all. Then Kagome had to create her final barrier to get past the usual ghost proofing house spell, something that was really beginning to annoy her.

"No more… I wanna sleep." Kagome moaned tiredly. "Mah feet hurt." She slurred a bit. "And I'm c-cold."

Inuyasha snorted. "That's because it's freezing out there baka. You should have dressed warmer."

"Dun't call me baka." Kagome mumbled against his chest.

"Uh huh." He rolled his eyes, bringing her up to her room and removing her coat and boots from there. Then he tucked her in, content on sitting this one out so that she could warm up faster with her blankets all around her.

"…Tomorrow.." Kagome's muffled voice spoke.

"Huh? What was that wench?"

She snuggled deeper in her blankets, a big smile on her face. "Tomorrow, you'll be warm. I promise, I'll make you real again."

He smiled at her words, and that night he watched her carefully. However despite her promise, he still had his doubts. And if there were any screw-ups tomorrow, and tonight was his last night to spend with her, then he wouldn't miss any moments. He would relish this now and hope that tomorrow wouldn't end in sadness.

"I'm the luckiest half breed around. I'm glad Kikyo sealed me. I'm glad I met you Kagome. My mate." He ran a clawed hand down her cheek softly.

'Sleep well. And I hope you set some sort of alarm 'cause I'm not waking you up.' He grinned toothily, holding in his chuckled.

Now will she wake up pissed off tomorrow morning for being late, or happy to have slept in?

Well, we'd just have to wait and see.

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**A/N Hopefully the next chapter will be the last plus an epilogue of sorts. Sorry for the late update. I went back home for the holidays but I'm not aloud to use my dad's work laptop (got a virus on it last time I used fanfiction), couldn't use my brothers computers (one has no internet and the other didn't have a word processing thing. Stupid gamer and all his games), my sisters computer in her words 'exploded' and finally I had no freaking idea there was a normal house computer (found out this morning). So many computers! And yet I couldn't use them! Until I found out about this desktop and started to type away. Haha… well anyways. I hope you guys all had a wonderful Christmas! I did! Happy New Year. I hope to finish this very soon! R&R!**


	24. December 18th

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N Can I say Wow? The amount of reviews I've gotten for this fic have been very inspiring I must admit. Thank you very much for you support, especially those that have been with me from the very start a couple of years ago. Really, I'm so happy. I hope you guys enjoy this final chapter, but don't be sad yet. There is still the epilogue after this. So one more posting before it's done. Well then, Enjoy! (:**

**P.S I meant to post this last week, but I obviously didn't because I've gotten rather busy with portfolios. So, I apologize for the tardiness.**

**Anyways, enjoy. And don't forget to review!**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Chapter 24. December 18th **

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_"Kagome do you know what you missed!"_

_"Hojo-kun made a move on—"_

Oh please, Kami please stop them now.

"—_And then they went out to the corner of the gym—"_

What was with all this drama? Especially over a guy she had no interest in.

"_Oh and don't forget the part about—"_

Then again, this _was_ high school after all.

Still, why hadn't she stayed home today? Why had she been so adamant about coming to school and being a good student? Inuyasha had even encouraged her to stay home by making her sleep in too late. She had missed her first couple classes because of him and of course to top it all off her clock was broken.

No, not by Inuyasha in one of his fits. But by her. _Her!_

She had thrown it at him, completely forget for a _split freaking second_ that it would go through him, which it did, causing it to crash into her wall. This created a new dent for her next poster to cover up, oh and of course she needed yet another clock. Well, not technically since the last time her clock went airborne Sango-san had convinced her to buy two instead of one. So she had one already waiting for her in her closet. It was the poster part that would be difficult.

Inuyasha didn't like her putting up posters of sexy shirtless men. So what else could she put up?

Maybe a calendar?

'Nah, not very useful for me.' Kagome listed off as a no, continuing her brainstorm while the three babbling girls in front of her, otherwise known as her friends, continued their rant about the previous evening. So she had missed some people hitting on others and yada yada, what was the big deal? To Kagome, she had some bigger fish to fry. Such as this whole get-Inuyasha's-body-back thing. That and there had been something else bothering her.

Obviously it was supernaturally related, because what else would her life be in turmoil about?

Basically she had gotten a message via text from Jakotsu-san and Bankotsu-san saying that there had been some minor demon sightings around town again. Great. Before she could even think of texting back they had sent her a message shortly afterwards stating 'don't worry about it'. Okay, fine. Except how did they expect her to do that? She could very well feel the presence of those youkai, albeit not anywhere nearby, but still residing in the city. Ever since last nights little encounter, she had been having a better grasp on her senses concerning youkai. She was able to feel them out, most likely because of their auras, and know in general where they could be found. So if last night was at all comparable to today, how in the hell were they going to kill flying demons if there were any?

Oh, new message.

Huh, guess that's where Kagura-san came in.

From what the message describes, she's able to manipulate the wind, causing deadly blades and tornadoes that could kill any flying demons without much of an issue. 'So where was she last night? Oh right, skipping out on the Formal to stay at home and watch movies while eating popcorn. I guess she's making up for the loss of fun from yesterday…' The girl snapped shut her cell and sighed lightly in relief.

"Can we go yet? These screechy girls are annoying." Inuyasha complained next to Kagome, his ears pinned against his skull in an effort to muffle them out. "I'm getting a damn headache."

On a lighter note, ever since the Tessaiga was moved to the new location, things around the house have turned back to normal. Inuyasha didn't have any form of complications with his demonic aura in the morning and was back to his teasing and cocky self. She didn't even feel all that heavy and moody in her room anymore like she had been for the past little bit. 'I shouldn't have been stupid when it came to the ancient sword in the first place. But either way, things worked out. Though not completely. I still have Inuyasha to worry about.' She shot him an apologetic glance. She had come to school to pick up on some extra notes for the exams. She couldn't just leave, especially since she missed some of her morning classes.

Thank Kami the teacher had finally shown up, briefly telling the class to simmer down enough so that he could finish up his lesson and hand out more study notes. Of course that didn't stop the three girls from passing her notes, basically foretelling the multi ability girl that she was in for a slow, torturous day.

Oh _joy_.

-X-

"Are you okay Kagome-san? You seem a little tense?" Miroku-san asked the girl during the lunch hour. "And why are we on the roof today anyways? It's cold out here…"

"I can't feel my toes…" Sango-san also added.

Kagome shivered violently, sipping her hot chocolate to try and keep warm. "Y-Yuka-chan Eri-chan a-and A-Ayum-mi-chan won't stop harassing me about l-last night." Her teeth chattered and her nostrils were beginning to stick together. Damn it was cold today! So stupidly cold! Oh… Inuyasha was giving her a really annoyed look. 'Probably not happy about me being out here.'

"You mean to say w-we're up here because of them?" Sango grumbled irritably. "Look, why don't we go back inside, swallow our great fears and tell them to _shove it_?"

Miroku looked at her in surprise, as did Kagome.

"What!" Sango snapped. "I don't like the cold…" She added in her self-defence.

"I second that motion then. I also dislike the cold… I would rather face those harpy girls than this." Miroku added, leading the group back inside for some much needed warmth. He even had to tug Kagome inside, the girl surprisingly putting up a pretty good fight.

"Inuyasha you had better be coming too!" Kagome shouted back at the hanyou poltergeist, the boy still standing with a cocky grin on his face right outside the door.

"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out. I don't think I can take another minute of their mindless chatter."

That little… Oh she was going to _sit him_ alright!

Except that Miroku had pulled her in and slammed the door shut right behind her with a lovely thud, bidding a temporary goodbye to the stubborn half demon. If it weren't for the fact that he was a poltergeist right now, he would be thinking that the moron had a death wish. There would be no way in hell that Inuyasha would survive that long after his revival. Assuming that this whole thing works to begin with, Miroku would be willing to bet that Kagome would sooner sit him into a cozy place in hell well before a week was over.

"I can't believe—It's not fair!" Kagome complained childishly. "You should have heard them this morning! I don't want to face that again! And—Wait—Where were you two this morning!" Kagome pointed an accusing finger at the two of them, raising a brow.

Miroku simply coughed and softly explained that he came in late while Sango merely turned scarlet and squeaked out a similar response.

Damn them… They probably slept in and had some sort of heavy make out session, as if she needed to think of them—'Higurashi! Stop that right now! That is down right nasty and so not what I need imagery of right now.' She needed to clear her thoughts, something that was usually a bit easier. Argh, she hated being stressed! 'I need to find a spot where it's nice and quiet, maybe relax, meditate, go over the spell a couple more times in my head.' She thought, beginning to chew on her lip.

Though where could she go to find peace? She was at school, which was important, so maybe right now wasn't the best time to meditate. 'But my thoughts are all over the place. I'm so jittery and anxious. Exams are around the corner and tonight we're supposed to try and help Inuyasha and I really need a moment before I get my butt yelled at again by those girls I call friends.' She let out a small groan.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about." Miroku spoke convincingly.

Ha, he hadn't been there this morning. So how would _he_ know?

Once they were back inside the school halls, Kagome had miraculously separated herself from the group right before said three girls had assaulted them. Questions of the recent rumours were asked, and the teens were all wondering about the relationship between the pervert and their precious Sango-chan. Giggling darkly to herself, Kagome had slipped away towards the library, hoping to get some form of meditation done in the large space.

Ah, today was already beginning to look brighter for her.

-X-

Overall, today had been the most exhausting of all days she had ever experienced. The fact that she had to be on constant girl alert didn't help any either. Plus there was the screechy Ayame-hime that came in during one of Kouga-sensei's lectures, cutting the class short and making most of the student body cringe at the high-pitched voice. Though Kagome at this point was immune to the pitch and merely laughed nervously at the wolf demons affection towards her sensei.

It was during her walk home, when she was inwardly reciting yet again the chant Jakotsu-san had taught her, that Inuyasha had spoken up. He had finally reappeared after ditching her for nearly the entire day.

"Ya know, those two are a lot closer these days. More so than I have seen in awhile." The hanyou poltergeist spoke up in all honesty, stuffing his hands in either of his sleeves.

"The Holidays do bring people together." Kagome shrugged off automatically, turning after a minute to face the calm hanyou with a fierce glare. "H-hey! Where have you been all day mister?"

He glanced at her briefly. "Feh, I can go wherever I want wench."

"Says you! You're usually glued to my hip!"

"Ya well, I didn't want to hafta bear the company of those annoying human girls all damn day. They can make any person loose their mind." He snorted. "And besides, they're your friends, not mine. So they weren't my problem."

Oh what a prick. Not even willing to suffer along side of her…

She was so jealous of him right now.

'I wish I had the ability to be invisible. And to appear wherever I wanted to.' Kagome mentally groaned, sighing loudly without realizing it. Kami it had been one of those days. The best part was that it wasn't even close to being finished. Note the sarcasm used in that sentence. Tonight was the night she would be attempting to free Inuyasha, thus the practicing of the spells thing. She really needed to know her shit and was beyond worried of screwing this whole thing up. All it would take would be a small mispronunciation and boom!

One freed demon or possible hell portal. Which was worse really? A hell born demon or an actual rip in this dimension allowing demons from hell to come over freely? 'I guess it'd be the portal…'

'But the way I was warned about this demon in Inuyasha… It sounds terrifying. I don't even know if I can handle something like this. What if I really can't do anything about it? What if Inuyasha gets put back into the sword? What if—'

"Oi wench." Inuyasha's gruff voice broke the girl from her panicking and trailing thoughts, grounding her back to earth. "I dunno what you're thinking about, but would ya calm down already? I don't like it when you get all worried." He added the last part in a mumble, nudging the girls' arm with his own in a form of comfort.

Didn't he know that tonight they were going to break the spell? Wasn't he at all worried?

How could he be so damn calm all the time!

She opened her mouth to yell at him again, but was interrupted by the buzzing of a new text message from her reliable informant, Jakotsu-san. She had pulled out her cell phone and read over the message quickly, mumbling something about 'A late night' under her breath. She was supposed to meet up with the boys a little bit into the evening, preferably around ten-ish. Just enough time for at least her grandpa to be asleep. Souta would most likely still be up (it was Friday night after all), but he could cover for her.

"You don't hafta do this Kagome, you know that. Right?" Inuyasha muttered towards her, shadowing his face with his silver bangs.

The girl stiffened, shutting her cell and pocketing it. The nerve of him! Did he really think she wouldn't do anything and everything in her power to set him free? Not only was she doing this for him, to give him his second chance, but she was selfishly doing this for herself too! She… She was in love with the idiotic blockhead.

Didn't he get that?

"Don't be stupid!" She barked out harshly. "I'm not going to let you stay locked up forever in that stupid sword. I mean, don't you see? Don't you think I was born in this freakishly powerful body for a reason? This was all meant to happen. I know it. So…" She struggled a bit with her words, feeling a bit sheepish now. "So please don't have any doubts in me."

He had wanted to argue back, that much she had noticed. Surprisingly though, the hanyou had kept his mouth shut, simply snorting at her but otherwise not saying another word. Needless to say, the rest of the walk home was made in silence.

-X-

Saying she was really _really_ ridiculously nervous at the moment would be an understatement.

She was freaking terrified.

Because not only was she standing within the sealed iron room by herself, but also she was standing in it with a bubbling, heavily tainted yet innocent enough looking katana a few feet away from her. Although it was sitting in a devils trap, it still gave off a foul aura that weighed like led on her shoulders. Which was why everyone else was standing safely on the other side of that thick iron door. The aura in here was so bad, that Miroku couldn't even take standing in here for more then a few minutes. Besides, it was better this way. They really didn't know what to expect during this incantation thing.

"Are you ready?"

Oh yeah, like that didn't scare the pants off of her. Of course she had forgotten that Inuyasha was standing behind her… He had been so quiet that it had momentarily slipped her mind that she had let him in with one of her barriers. Duh.

"W-well, I-I think s-so." Kagome lamely stuttered, feeling a bit embarrassed at her show of weakness. 'You can do it Higurashi! Stop being a wimp! It's just like before. Just like what you did in your mirror on Halloween.' She mentally encouraged herself.

This little encouragement was then followed by a surprising grunt from the poltergeist behind her.

"Don't worry so much wench, you'll wrinkle."

Gee, that was exactly what she needed to hear. Well, kind of anyways. It was sort of his way of saying 'chill, you'll be fine'. So she had swallowed hard and taken a small peek back at the iron door. The latch to look inside was open, and there stood Miroku-san and Sango-san, both nodding at her with confidence. The other Hunters and the Wind Witch were back upstairs, standing guard outside of the store (in case more demons would somehow be drawn in by this aura). She sort of felt bad for them since it was supposed to be really cold this evening. Like a my-nostrils-are-sticking-together-after-breathing-in-once type cold.

Yep, it was chilly out.

And here she was, delaying the inevitable by thinking about everyone else. But hey, this was her way of calming down under tight situations. Breathing in slowly, she took in the scene around her, mentally imagining herself back in her washroom. This was almost exactly like then, except now she would be saying some foreign words she didn't really understand. Though candles were lit around her the lights were still on, and the room had been cleared of anything valuable. It was virtually empty, ready to do battle with this supposed great demon from hell.

Well then, it was time. She was ready. She knew she was. And she absolutely believed in what she was doing. One hundred percent for sure. So that's why she began the chant, slowly beginning with the ancient phrases, one by one she continued knowing that there were a total of thirteen phrases to be said (the last one needing to be chanted three times so really it was more like ten ish and a half…). Gradually as she spoke one spell after another, the aura would increase.

The demon was beginning to come out.

Inuyasha, who stood directly behind her, had begun to growl in his territorial way. His own demon blood stirring within him. Naturally his stripes had surfaced almost as soon as he was let into this room. But now his transformation was much more along then it had ever been in the past. He was more primal, feeling more violent than usual. Almost as if he wanted to hurt his mate who was standing in front of him, just for the sake of feeling his claws run through flesh once again.

Oh the smell of blood…

No! No he had to focus, had to protect. This was his purpose. Protect her from himself.

This thought though, this primary rule of his was getting even more difficult to keep in mind. As the aura thickened, and the Tessaiga coated itself with that awful and yet familiar smell, he could tell that it was close now, the demon was almost out. This scent brought back the fresh memories of that night in the Sengoku Jidai. It was the very smell his nose picked up before the world had gone black for him. And that chuckle… It was pure malice.

His ears perked at the familiar sound just as Kagome's voice shouted for the last time that final phrase. That's when it was released, burning out all the candles in whoosh of air. And though that demons voice was infused with his own, the chuckle it made was still as bone chilling as he remembered it to be.

There stood that hell born youkai in his meat suite. He looked exactly like he remembered himself being. Clad in red clothing, long silver hair, fangs and claws. The only difference being the face. The face that was on Inuyasha's body was terrifying.

Blood red eyes with blue tattoos encircling them on his skin. The jagged stripes were doubled and attached to the blue markings, the thing grinning its large fangs as it let out another chuckle. Behind him lay the Tessaiga, no longer carrying any other aura besides a dull golden one. However the rest of the devils trap was completely encased with a thick purple mist, poisonous by the looks of it.

'Kami, this was what he looked like when he got sealed? He's… He's not even himself!' Kagome clenched her fists, feeling pretty pissed off now at this smug youkai. Oh was she ever going to wail on him.

"So." It began to speak; its voice intermingled with Inuyasha's natural voice. "This made waiting all the more interesting. Kuku_ku_… To be awakened by one of _your_ kind, this brings back fond memories."

'Memories?' Kagome blinked in thought. Well what the hell was that supposed to mean?

"I see you do not know who I am? I suppose that bitch Midoriko would be stupid enough not to mention me." He spat darkly, his eyes glinting when he noticed the girls' attention. "Oh, so you do know of her after all?"

Kagome bit her lip, feeling Inuyasha stir uncomfortably behind her. She knew she was being stupid by asking, but she couldn't help it. "H-how do you know Midoriko-sama?" Damn her stutter!

The youkai chuckled deeply, his eyes widening with madness. "That woman… She was the one responsible for creating me of course!" He bellowed, delighted by her shocked face. "If she hadn't slain me as that weakling half demon Onigumo, I would never have been reborn as this powerful creation." He lifted a clawed hand, increasing the thick purple mist around it. "A new youkai born from several in hell. Powerful enough to rise up again and to take a new body."

She was gently increasing her own spiritual powers not only to counteract this horrible air, but to be cautious enough to have a bow ready at her side. "So what, you decided to come back to kill more people?"

"Precisely. I delight in causing harm to others, more specifically through deceiving and trickery. As a shape-shifting half-breed I could do so without more than a thought. Until that woman found me. Quite a powerful body she had… Exactly like the one you are currently possessing. Much better than the one I am residing in I'm sure." He licked his lips in excitement. "Yes, you are exactly the thing I had been searching for when I originally returned from the depths of hell. The perfect host for this new power of mine."

Oh my Kami was she ever getting pissed at him. Did he really think he was going to get this fine piece of ass so easily? Stupid… "Good luck with that. 'Cause there is absolutely no way of you getting out of that so effortlessly pal." Kagome gestured to the circle on the floor. "Plus I'm not naïve enough to come in here unprepared." 'Not like before.' She mentally added.

No way was she a weak little schoolgirl anymore.

"You dare to challenge me? The great Naraku born from the flames of hell?" He questioned in all curiosity, very amused with this human's spirit. "How remarkable this is."

"K'gome.." Inuyasha growled behind the girl wearily, a full range of snarls escaping his lips as he watched his own body ahead of him move without his soul inside. "Kill it." He grunted, trying to convey the message of 'shut the hell up woman and kill that thing already!' in his demonic form.

She did partly understand what he was saying, it was time to stop gathering information since the longer they waited to get rid of this Naraku entity, the thicker this poisonous evil aura would get. "I don't care who you are, born or not in hell I won't let you stay in that body! Or in this world for that matter. If Midoriko-sama was able to kick your butt in the past, then you had better believe that I can too!" She bit her lip to keep from growling inhumanely.

This prick was laughing at her! Like full blown laughing at her as if she had told a stupid joke. She couldn't believe it. Unbelievable.

When Naraku had calmed his laughter somewhat he had eyed Kagome with his crimson gaze. "Such spirit, and yet you do not see your dilemma? If you want that filth to be able to re-enter this flesh then you can't hurt me. So you see, I've already won. I am free of that irritating spell and can now resume my plans."

There was no way he could do that, because he was stuck inside this chamber with her. Stuck inside that circle! He couldn't even—Wait, what was that noise? Something burning... Kagome's blue eyes darted around Naraku, who still stood grinning with those frighteningly large fangs. That's when she noticed him walking forward outside of the circle, well what was left of it at least. 'He burnt the markings on the floor with his aura. It was like pouring acid on it!' She thought in alarm, her face drained of its colour. She swallowed hard and kept taking a step back for each step forward he took.

Well shit.

"Afraid yet little ningen? I hope so, for you see possessing that body of yours would be exactly what I would need. That great power encased with my own, we could do so many things. Raise armies, open the gates of hell and rule the worlds." He continued to walk forward, each step slowly melting away the salt and iron that covered the floor. "Join me willingly, and perhaps I will allow you some enjoyment during our conquering." He held out a clawed hand towards her.

Kagome inwardly whimpered now that the safety net was taken way. 'What do I do? What can I do?' She took another step back, shaking her head at him. "I w-won't let you take my body!" Stupid stutter. Where had all her confidence gone?

"Then I will take it with force."

That's when Inuyasha could no longer hold himself back. His urge to protect Kagome had just won him over and pushed him forward to attack his own body. Of course despite it being his body, his claws merely slipped through the flesh, not even causing a small scratch.

"Oh?" Naraku purred in delight. "I see you are as pathetic as I remember you to be."

Inuyasha went to slice at his possessed body again, his clawed hand entering the body before suddenly freezing. With great dread settling in his stomach, his mind slowly began to see that he was stuck. His hand was stuck inside his own chest.

"You useless mongrel. You can't harm your own body like you can a hunters or a priestess for that matter. You are weak, not even worth reabsorbing into this horrible excuse for a meat suite. But I will anyways, just to silence your irritating growls." Naraku bent forward, orbs widening along with his sickening smile.

Kagome could only watch helplessly as Inuyasha's soul started to fade, the boy returning to his body against his own will at this point. 'No! No if he goes back now—I can't—I'll kill him!' She thought in distress. "Inu_ya_shaaa!" She cried in desperation, only receiving a whisper of her name from his lips before his form had completely disappeared within his body.

Naraku rolled his shoulders back, breathing out easily in satisfaction. "Now then girl, where were we before that mutt had interrupted us so rudely?"

Honestly, her brain was now working overtime trying to think of various ways to get rid of this thing without harming Inuyasha's soul or his body. 'He says I can't do squat, but I know that's bull. Maybe a priestess can't do anything, but a necromancer sure as hell can! As long as I have my amulet he can't possess me, so first thing is first!' She dropped her purifying abilities that had been curling within her palms to form her bow. Instead, she started to concentrate on her other half of her identity.

"Giving up are we?" Naraku taunted, resuming approaching her.

She shot him an icy glare. "Over my dead body." She grounded out darkly, giving her first mental push at his demonic soul.

He struggled with his next step and instead took a small one back with a hint of disbelief to his expression. "As expected, you do have some form of understanding to your abilities. However it will take more then a simple nudge to force me from this body." He snorted almost as if insulted by this show of weakness.

'That was a nudge to him? A freaking nudge?' Kagome mentally shouted, trying yet again to pull him out of that body. She even imagined her usual veil, a hand reaching out and giving a firm tug. When he brushed off the attempt like it was nothing she decided to try shoving him instead of pulling. Of course it did nothing, not even making him flinch. 'I don't get it, I've pulled possessing souls out of a host before. I can even summon them. Why isn't this working?' She took another step back from him.

Crap, she really needed a plan C right now.

'Think Higurashi. You've got time before he realizes that your amulet is protecting you. So come on! Why isn't my power working on him? He's a possessing youkai, so I should have power over him.' She felt beads of sweat gathering at the back of her neck. Kami, what could she do? Glancing around the room, she couldn't even locate where the door was let alone Miroku and Sango's eyes. She really could use their support. She didn't even know where the walls were; all she could see was a deep purple mist. The only thing that wasn't covered in it was her because her body was naturally purifying it as it neared her.

'What's the point of being super strong if I can't even use these stupid powers to save the person I love in the first place? I—' She had final backed into one of the iron walls of the room, swallowing hard. This was the end of the line. It really was. Her confidence was gone and all that she was left with were these legendary powers that just weren't working—'Wait a sec, why are my powers so strong in the first place?' She questioned herself.

"It's the end of the line. I'll be taking that body little girl."

She ignored him as he continued to near her. 'I am unique because I was born with miko and necromancer abilities. Both equally boosting the other in a continuous circle. That's why they are so limitless. Midoriko's book said so. To get the best results I can't just use one at the time, I need both to take down a true demonic possession. I need both!' Kagome gasped, partially loosing her breath when a hand had wrapped itself around her throat.

"I'd say you put up a fight, but it was hardly anything comparable to that bitch Midoriko. So farewell little ningen, I will do much with this gift of yours." He smiled sinisterly, opening his mouth to transfer himself.

Kagome shook not in fear but with determination. She ground her teeth and lifted her right hand. "Piss off!" She spat, sending a jolt of bright blue power into his chest. And oh man did he ever fly. He went as far as across the room, sliding against the floor roughly with a strangled cry. The air around Kagome had purified quite a bit more as her new blue aura circled her, adding a brighter glimmer in her eyes. She began to form the light in her right palm, preparing a bow.

The hanyou body on the floor lifted itself weakly, Naraku looking none too impressed at the sizzling and smoke rising from him. "You bitch, I don't know what you did but I won't let you do it again." He hissed, standing quickly and now running at her. Play time was over, that was for damn sure.

And she couldn't agree more. Her bow had formed in a flash of cracking blue light, an arrow formed in seconds and within those seconds shot at Naraku. The first had missed since he had leapt to the side, but that hadn't stopped her. She had fired arrow after arrow like they were nothing, catching his shoulder once in the process. This in turn revealed a portion of his youkai soul emerging from Inuyasha's body before stubbornly returning inside. She'd have to hit him in the right spot to get him fully out. So the rounds continued until he got to her again. At that point she had given him a firm whack to the forehead with her bow, the thing stunning him.

He choked, the jagged blue markings and red eyes flashing away briefly to reveal Inuyasha's true face underneath.

'Keep going. Almost there!' Kagome took that opportunity to pull back the string on her bow and fired an arrow square in his chest.

Bulls' eye!

A dark, purple-black entity had shot out of Inuyasha's body, floating into the centre of the room with a horrifying screech. His true face shown, Naraku had solidified into the form he had taken when he had risen from hell. A mixture of various demons attached to a pale humanoid chest and head. He had inky long tresses and those same crimson eyes and blue tattoos on his face. He looked positively hideous.

"How dare you!" He roared. "No, it no longer matters for I will take your body and be done with it now!" He moved forward, laughed darkly as he did so until he was inches from touching her. "Mine!" He reached to her neck, but had been forced back by a powerful jolt of searing electricity. Howling in pain, he had hovered away from her with a scream. "Nani?"

Kagome's lip quirked upwards in a smirk. "Baaaka." She yanked out the amulet that was hidden under her clothing, revealing the glowing gem. "I told you I came prepared!"

He showed recognition upon seeing the charm, snarling at the girl in an animalistic manner. "Then I will return to him!" He decided, his youkai spirit flying back towards his original host.

"Oh I don't think so." Kagome's blue arrow struck him before he could even remotely reach that far, freezing him in place. "You've caused enough trouble for several lifetimes." Her aura instantly shifted from blue to pink, the girl now forming a pure pink arrow with her purifying powers.

"No." His crimson orbs shifted to her in slight fear. "No don't do it!" The youkai receiving a flashback of a similar death when he had previously been Onigumo. Except this time, in the form of a spirit, a floating tainted demonic soul, this would truly be the end.

Kagome hadn't even thought twice before letting her pink arrow fly at him. The room had been engulfed in a pink light, the girl realizing that with the uncontrollable amount of purity in here she could easily severely injure Inuyasha unless he was protected. She had swiftly formed a barrier around his unconscious body, wincing when she noticed some pale burn marks on cheek and hands. Looking back up, Naraku's screams had faded along with the light, the iron room looking empty and feeling weightless now that the heavy aura had been lifted. Though it could probably use a little remodelling after all that acidic air…

It was over.

He was really gone.

The bow in her palm had disappeared as well as her barrier around Inuyasha's body. She had trudged over to him, actually feeling a little exhausted and had fallen to her knees next to the motionless body. She had placed her hands on his chest, then one on his burnt cheek. She pulled back in alarm, a gasp escaping her lips. She hadn't even heard Sango or Miroku's shouts when they had entered the room, she was partially frozen in her own reality of disbelief.

He was warm.

His chest was rising and dropping.

"In-Inuyasha?" She blubbered a bit, her eyes watering. She hadn't hurt him too bad, right? He was still in there wasn't he? Or was he in a coma? Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to hit him with those blue arrows. Albeit she had been aiming for Naraku this entire time and manage to even force him out and kill him—Oh gosh she was yammering on for the sake of calming herself down again. Breathing out, she whispered yet again more clearly. "Inuyasha?"

A lone silver ear had twitched.

Kagome placed her hand back on his burned cheek softly. Interestingly enough, she had noticed that as soon as he had been forced back into his body the same beads she had cursed him with had tagged along. They hung around his neck as if his body had always had them, making her smile a bit. "Inuyasha, you need to wake up. I swear if you don't I will say the word and you will not like it."

A painful mumble had answered her call. "Duun't do it… Mmm hurts." He slurred, his eyes slowly opening. "K'gome?"

"Inuyasha!" Both Miroku and Sango said in unison.

Kagome smiled a bit, some loose tears falling. "Y-you're… Warm." She sniffled.

He blinked slowly, now beginning to realize what she was saying. Why he felt so much like crap in the first place. His muscles never got sore like this, and his skin prickled in pain. He felt the absolute need to breathe now, and greedily filled his lungs with her wondrous scent. He was alive. His heart was beating strongly in his chest, and he could feel it speed up as heat rushed to his cheeks in a true blush. He would be jumping with joy and would be gladly using his Tessaiga if he didn't feel so crappy. But sitting up was enough because he was able to grab Kagome, and for the first time, hug her fiercely, sharing his body heat with her.

And obviously he followed that with the most passionate kiss Sango and Miroku had no business in watching.

Oh yeah, he could get used to this.

"Wow wow wow, save the fireworks for later. I might go blind here!" Came Bankotsu's voice from the doorway.

Kagome, whom had somehow ended up straddling Inuyasha sometime during that kiss had turned crimson in embarrassment, shooting a little glare at the giggling Miroku-san and Sango-san.

"Keh! If you're so insulted by it then scram!" Inuyasha barked, about to yell some more when a high-pitched squeal had caused his ears to flatten against his skull. OH damn.

"It worked! It worked! Look at that handsome man!" Jakotsu gushed, trotting into the iron room with a giggle. "Oh I bet you missed me!"

"Not in the least." Inuyasha yipped, suddenly forgetting his injuries and leapt to his feet with Kagome safely in his arms. He cringed at the floating hearts around the approaching flamboyant male and made a couple jumps back to his Tessaiga, managing to snatch it up from the broken devils trap and slipping it into his belt where it belonged.

"No need to be shy!" Jakotsu beamed pleasantly.

"I ain't being shy!" Inuyasha snapped, putting Kagome back onto her feet and setting her aside.

"Jak!" Bankotsu sighed in exasperation.

The boy merely rolled his eyes. "Oh Ban-Ban you can't possibly understand this relationship—" He teased.

Inuyasha made no hesitation when withdrawing his Tessaiga, the legendary fang transforming into its larger form. "Leave me alone! Or I'll use it!"

Naturally this had no apparent affect on him. "Oooh, that's a very large sword." He winked.

Kagome, though exhausted, was very amused by all this and actually amazed by the beauty this sword actually held. She was blown away when it had begun to glow.

If anything, one of his golden eyes had twitched. Encircling the blade with his golden aura, he had formed adamants on the blade. "Back off!"

Jakotsu merely giggled and brushed him off. "Always so serious. My my aren't we just a party pooper? Much like your brother I see. Who is by the way on his way here. When he heard about this whole releasing thing he hadn't even booked a flight. He just took off to the air himself." He laughed.

Inuyasha had coughed. "N-nani?" He shot a glare at Bankotsu. "I'm not even fucking alive for five minutes and you sick him on me and send my bloodthirsty brother after me? You son-of-a-bitch!" He pointed his adamant covered Tessaiga at him. "I should be killing you!"

Bankotsu held up his hands in a surrendering fashion. "Whoa, down boy. I am unarmed you know."

Behind the Hunter, the Wind Witch made herself visible, tapping her fan idly against her ruby red lips. "I wouldn't worry much dear." She hid her smile as she set her eyes on the pissed off hanyou. "Hm, so this is Inuyasha? I've heard much about your brother. Actually he has quite the reputation in the West."

"Keh! As if I hadn't noticed." He grumbled, sheathing the Tessaiga angrily while keeping his eyes on the witch.

Kagome looked quickly between everyone, letting out a bit of a nervous laughter. "U-uh we-well why don't we go upstairs? It's getting late and—"

"Yes upstairs! Get some fresh air—" Miroku cut in, supporting Kagome.

"Maybe even a snack!" Sango-san added with a bright smile, all hoping that the tension would lessen somewhat.

"Sure." Bankotsu had shrugged nonchalantly, leading the way out with Kagura on his arm.

Kagome had shot a thankful glance at her friends before following after them. Though she had hung back a little, to form her barrier and to have that much more alone time with Inuyasha. She had turned to him shyly, her cheeks burning a bit as the memory of landing in his lap in a full out make-out session flashed back to the front of her mind. "So…" she began. "How do you feel?"

Inuyasha had smiled a true warm smile, wrapping his arms around her lower waist. "I haven't felt this crappy in a long time actually. It's in fact nice to be able to feel real pain again. But aside from that—" He rolled his shoulders a bit to loosen them up. "—It feels amazing to be alive again. The blood in my veins, my heart beating—it's an wonderful sensation." He brought her in closer to his chest, nuzzling his way into her hair and inhaling deeply. "I can't thank you enough for doing this for me. Considering the shit I've put you through anyways."

Kagome giggled against him. "You don't have to thank me. Really. But… You could… You could stay with… You know… me? I mean I'd understand if you wanted to go back with your brother to maybe catch up on some stuff—" She began to ramble, and she knew it. Thankfully Inuyasha had silenced her with a reassuring squeeze and had even growled at the mention of his brother.

"Look wench, let me put it this way. You are my mate. Wherever you go I go. I don't plan on separating from you if I can help it." He nuzzled his way down to her neck, giving her a small peck. "I'd even mark you this moment if I knew my brother wasn't on his way here. The prick would only piss me off even more with a dog remark."

"Speaking of which, we really should go back up. I'm feeling a bit of a stir up there."

"The prick?"

"Uhh." She lifted her head, briefly staring at the ceiling. "Yeah.. That was fast. How did he do that?"

The hanyou shrugged. "Most likely took on his second form. A bit of an arrogant move on his part." He grumbled.

"Second form?"

"Yeah, basically a gigantic dog demon—You know what, let's just get this over with. He's probably going to try the same shit and attempt to steal the Tessaiga. Again. Or maybe kill me." He separated himself from his soon to be mate, deciding to link her hand in his tightly.

"Inuyasha, I'm sure he's perfectly capable of holding a polite and rational behaviour. It has been five centuries after all." Kagome said with confidence, forming her barrier around them quickly.

"Are you willing to bet on that wench?"

"Name your terms!"

"I win, I get to make you mine tonight."

"Fine! But if I win, you have to go on an outing with Jakotsu-san."

"Wait—Wh-what?"

"Having doubts?"

"Of course not!"

Kagome clicked her tongue. "Then it's a bet."

When they got upstairs, they headed for the main store doors that led outside to the streets. Inuyasha could already see his brother through the window, his eyes narrowing on the increasing demonic winds around him. As if his brother knew he was being stared at, his eyes had shifted to Inuyasha's, the boys exchanging the fiercest glares.

Heh heh…

"Fine, it's a bet."

There was no way he could loose this.

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**A/N So there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There will be an epilogue of sorts. Not necessarily long, but it will reveal how the bet ends up and all that. Overall it should tie this story all together and end it well. So, R&R!**


	25. Epilogue

**Disclaimers: I do not own Inuyasha**

**A/N So it's finally here. And I am very terribly sorry for the wait. I have a full sort of message at the bottom of the epilogue to those who would be interested in reading it. I may or may not post a bonus chapter of an alternate version of the Naraku battle just because some of you didn't like the final battle, which is fine.**

**Anyways, enjoy the epilogue.**

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**Awakened Dead**

**Epilogue**

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The Holidays that used to be around the corner were now in full-blown motion. It was Christmas Eve at the Higurashi Shrine and Kagome was not in the best of moods. Ever since that night, the evening of the releasing spell and frightening battle with Naraku, Inuyasha has been gone. Though he had promised not to leave her, she completely understood why he was obligated to leave. His brother had demanded it in order to protect him. Given that Inuyasha didn't have the charm needed to hide his demonic features, he could potentially draw some unwanted attention from some nosy humans.

So says his brother.

Sesshoumaru-sama said that his company was always under great scrutiny since he owned such a powerful empire. If Inuyasha wanted any part in having any sort of future involving his half brother, then he had no choice but to leave and undergo intense training in the new technologies of the present. He would also need to have a specifically engineered charm to hide his demonic features and the Tessaiga from human eyes. At this point in time with all the spontaneous appearances of demons in the area, Sesshoumaru-sama did not wish to separate the Tessaiga from Inuyasha in case it was needed for a quick extermination.

So all in all, Inuyasha's been gone for a while now for a crash course in technology and such.

'It's been so depressing without him around…' Kagome thought with a small sigh.

Oh, and the best part was that no one had really won the bet. Sesshoumaru-sama hadn't fought Inuyasha, and said hanyou wasn't here with her due to a simple rational conversation. There had been a bit of a quarrel between the boys, an exchange of pretty foul words and a couple evil glares, but no violence and no simple 'Hello I'm glad you're alive'. It was a verbal argument in which as a result no one won in the bet. They had both been wrong. Both lost.

And now she was here, in her house, sitting in her room while staring outside her window at the falling snow. She had a warm cup of hot chocolate in her hands and was taking gradual sips to warm up. She had just come in a little while ago from shovelling a good portion of the shrine grounds. And let me tell you, doing that was not a walk in the park! At least Souta had lent a hand along with Miroku-san and Sango-san for a little bit. But they had only done a small portion before being obligated to leave to go back to their families.

'Maybe I should go downstairs and help Mama with some Christmas treats.' She thought, stifling a yawn.

Well, decorating cookies with family sure beat being alone on Christmas Eve moping in your room.

'But…' She suddenly glowered at her mug, swishing the contents around. 'Is it so much to ask for Inuyasha to be here? I admit I miss him much more than I thought I would. Plus I miss being able to summon him with just the smallest thought. I wish that still worked so I could haul his sorry butt back here for Christmas.' She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Stupid Sesshoumaru and his stupid stupid demonic strength to take away my boyfriend."

Wait, Inuyasha was her boyfriend wasn't he?

Or mate?

No.

No they definitely weren't mates yet, but Inuyasha seemed to think that they were meant to be. Which she really didn't want to argue against. They had this weird connection that she had never experienced with anyone. And anyways they both had powers and could see the dead so who could be more perfect for her? Oh and those adorable ears…

"Argh! That's it, no more sulking!" Kagome stood up abruptly, spilling some of her hot chocolate on her pj pants. "I'm going to go downstairs and help mama with the baking!" She eyed her pants and sighed lightly. "That is, after I change my pants."

-X-

… Well so much for helping.

After being shooed out of the kitchen by her mother, Kagome had grumpily decided to sit on the couch and watch her younger brother play his video games. Slowly, her eyes had started to droop, the girl beginning to feel her muscles relax and mould into the couch. When had she gotten so tired? If it weren't for her mom insisting that she didn't need help cleaning up after cookie decorating, the girl would be awake. She really didn't want to fall asleep. Cause then… It would be Christmas, without Inuyasha.

Sango-san and Miroku-san were bound to be excited. They had told her earlier about their plans to attend each other's celebrations since Sango's family preferred festivities on the Eve and Miroku's family did so on the day.

As the flashes of Souta's video games shot past her vision, Kagome had begun to internally sigh again. She was bored, tired and depressed. Turning her head so that she could look up at their tree, she had begun to wish upon the star that sat above it.

'I want him here. I miss him _so_ much… _Inuyasha_.'

The first time they had met, he had been so rude and frightening. To think that they had grown so close in such a small period of time still baffled her. But hey, when it comes to love, it does tend to blindside you, right?

"Hey sis, do you want to play a game with me? I can change the settings to multi player or something." Souta asked suddenly.

Kagome had taken note that the screen had big letters saying 'pause' on it.

"No, it's okay. I'm too sleepy to play. I bet you'd kick my butt."

"I always kick your butt at this." He taunted with a similar grin to that of Inuyasha's.

That put her into an even deeper state of depression. 'Why does it have to be Christmas? I'd rather go through exam week again just to lose track of time and occupy my brain with facts rather than thoughts of him.' She thought, smiling lightly at her brother. "That's not going to work on me squirt." She let out a big yawn, indicating just how tired she was.

"Fine fine." She heard her brother mumbled, the game resuming on the TV.

As she closed her eyes, she vaguely felt a tug of a demonic presence. Half hoping that it was her hanyou answering her call, she felt herself smile in her sleep. 'But I bet Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't let him come. He's too much of a grouch.'

"_Oi sis, look outside!"_

'Shut up Souta… Too loud.' Kagome mentally replied back, feeling herself drift further and further into the dark abyss.

_"Nee-san it's In—"_

She mumbled something incoherent under her breath, turning onto her side and nuzzling her face into the cushion. Oh yeah, she was definitely dead to the world now.

That's why she didn't hear the front door open.

Or her mother greeting someone with delight and allowing him in.

Or even her little brothers squeals of excitement.

She hadn't heard any of it. However she did hear one thing. A voice that was so close to her ear, she could feel the person's hot breath. She could smell the fresh scent of the winters cold on him and felt a soft touch to her cheek.

"You know I didn't come all this way just to watch you sleep. Although with you being so defenceless like this, I might just have to take advantage of it before you wake up."

Every time..!

"I wouldn't mind either. After all, you are _mine_."

Of all the damn things he could've said. He just had to go down that road again. _Didn't he? _He just loves his ridiculous taunts and incredibly perverted—

She had turned herself onto her back and laced her voice with a feral growl. "You insufferable _son_ of a—Mmmph _Mhiift_!" He _would_ interrupt her rant with a kiss... Which simply meant that this was no dream or a hallucination. She could actually feel the press of his lips against hers, and sweetness behind the simple kiss.

He had torn himself away from her, a large grin smugly placed on his face. "I missed you too wench."

Kagome blinked open her blue eyes slowly, now almost thinking that she was in a dream after all. The person who sounded so much like the Inuyasha she knew looked different to her. He had the most beautiful purple eyes, and long black hair that could rival hers. He looked like the Inuyasha she had encountered when she had hurt him during one of her fits.

"You look confused." Inuyasha furrowed his brows.

…

Kagome stared at him blankly, trying to understand why he looked human (she had just woken up after all..). Slowly she lifted both her hands and then had burrowed them into the boys black hair messily. "But…" She began in a small voice. "Where are your dog ears?" She questioned without thinking.

Again there was a moment of silence.

He stared at her, blinking a few times before speaking in pure amusement.

"Huh, your mother really wasn't kidding when she said you were tired." Inuyasha finally replied after a long pause, snatching the girls hands out from his hair and lowering them back to her sides. "Wench I'm wearing a charm. Remember? C'mon, wake up already and start using that brain of yours. You couldn't have possibly fried it that much during your school exam things, right?"

A charm?

"Wait." Kagome sat up, feeling a bit light headed at first, but then shaking it off. "Are you telling me I'm not dreaming? This is real?" She found that he was kneeling on the carpet next to the couch, wearing very modern clothing that suited him well. His cheeks were also still a bit pink from the cold weather and his hair did look a bit tousled.

"This is as real as it gets. And you had better be counting your freaking lucky stars that your senile grandfather didn't hear you ask where my dog ears were wench." He huffed, standing up to stretch.

"Inu-onii-san! Are you going to be staying! Huh?" Souta came rushing into the living room excitedly followed by his mom.

"Oh yes, we would be happy to have you." She added with a warm smile. "It's been so long since we've seen you, and Kagome has been sulking quite a bit lately."

"Is that so?" Inuyasha smirked knowingly. "Well I don't mind staying for a while. But just in case, I think I should warn you that there is a very likely chance that my arrogant brother is going to be stopping by with his wife tomorrow to attempt to drag me back. So you might have to put up with him too."

"Good. We have quite a bit of food anyways. The more guests the least leftovers." She kept her smile. Now turning to Souta she had ushered for him to follow her out. "Come on dear, it's time for bed."

Obviously the boy wasn't going to go to bed without putting up a bit of a pout, but had nonetheless left with his mother upstairs. The only people left were now a dumbfounded Kagome and a more than pleased Inuyasha.

"C'mon Kagome, I think its time for bed too. You look exhausted." The hanyou bent down and picked the girl up off the couch with ease. "What did ya do today? Fight an army or somethin?" He mumbled softly, carrying her carefully up the stairs of the house, not caring if some of the lights were left on. He could always go back later to turn 'em off anyways.

"I really did miss you." Kagome mumbled, fighting back a yawn. "Are you going to take off your charm when we go to bed? I miss you dog ears." She giggled a bit, almost feeling him rolling his eyes.

He had walked right into her room, gently placing her down onto her bed with a grunt. "Sure if it means I get to stay with you tonight. Not that you have much of a choice in the matter." He chuckled softly at her raised brow and smiled. He then buried one of his hands into the neck of his shirt, pulling out what looked like a normal leather necklace with a small gem on it. He tugged it over his head, which then made his appearance drastically change into that of a half demon with the Tessaiga safely strapped to his left hip. Now he really was back.

Just as she remembered him.

With the exception of looking dashing in his modern jeans and button down shirt.

"Ya know, the only thing this charm won't hide are these damn beads of subjugation of yours. Looks like your enchantment is much more powerful." He feigned complaining, actually having grown fond of the necklace and its meaning.

"Just take off your shirt and come to bed. I'm sleepy and unfortunately clearly deprived of your presence." Kagome ordered, pulling back her bed sheets and fluffing her pillows.

Hell he didn't need to be told twice.

Kagome watched him switch out the lights and yank of his shirt in record timing. An amusing sight since she had not once seen him take off his clothing. 'Very nice.' She internally complemented him on his chiselled features. She grudgingly tore her eyes away due to the burning feeling on her cheeks, deciding instead to crawl under her warm blankets.

There was a distinct snort of laughter from her silvery friend who then said. "I saw that. Don't think you can hide those kinds of looks from me K'gome." He shot her a wide cocky smile as he joined her under the sheets and tucked them both in. "No need to be embarrassed. I know I'm incredibly good looking, hell even sexy—"

"Oh please, stop now before you really start to ruin this moment."

"I ain't ruining anything. I'm in fact adding to the atmos—"

"Uh huh, sure."

"You smell nice, have I told you that yet?"

"Wh-what—H-hey don't change the subject—" Kagome shivered when his nose had descended to the crook of her neck, feeling him nuzzle her as he inhaled her smell. Oh gosh what was he doing to her? And now she was feeling his lips as he nibbled at her skin and then spread butterfly kisses along her neck.

"Even if we were separated for just six days, it felt like months since I had the privilege of smelling something as good as you. Damn that Sesshoumaru for taking me away." Inuyasha grumbled against her skin. "I'm not letting him do it again. Though seeing my father's fortress was refreshing, I'd rather have him just finish his stupid training with me here." He wrapped his strong arms around her little waist, practically crushing Kagome to his body.

"Well he does have a new building now. He really could just set up here and you guys can keep doing whatever it is you're doing here in Tokyo." Kagome gave him a peck on his chest. "I think that he really needs to consider doing that unless he really wants to pick a fight with me."

Inuyasha chuckled against her, purring in approval. "I'd like to see that. But he definitely won't be thinking of staying anywhere for a long period of time with Rin in her condition—"

"Wait, what condition? Is she alright?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, she's fine. She's just pregnant for the first time—"

"Haven't they been together for centuries? And now she's pregnant?" Kagome asked in confusion.

"Yeah, as it turns out the prick wasn't fond of the idea of having half breeds for pups. Rin had slowly been turning him around on the topic. I like to think that since I've been revived that he's happy to have a family now that they have an uncle who's a half demon to relate to." He shrugged. "I don't know, my brother's weird."

Kagome softly snorted against him. "Enough talking. We can continue this conversation in the morning."

"Alright." The hanyou purred in agreement, rubbing small circles into his girlfriends back. "Out of curiosity, you are willing to be my mate right?" He whispered softly, feeling a little more frightened about the answer than he should be.

"Obviously. You do know that I most likely can't live without you." Kagome slurred a bit against him, feeling sleep rapidly take her over. "Igm ign lufvs wih ouuh." She snuggled against her protector, sighing lightly as she fell into the depths of sleep.

Inuyasha rested his head onto the girls' pillow, letting out a breath of relief. This all still seemed too surreal for him. Too perfect to have happened to a half breed mutt like him. And yet here he was, with the most beautiful and fiery woman he had ever met. He wouldn't change anything about this. 'Just wait till we really mate. Things are bound to be more interesting when we develop a stronger bond.'

'That ass-wipe Sesshoumaru is gunna hafta deal with me staying here from now on. 'Cause there's no way I'd let anything happen to this girl. No, my soon to be mate.'

"Heh." He breathed into Kagome's inky black tresses. "Pleasant dreams."

End

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**A/N So I know this is really really late. It's 'cause of portfolios and then I was too nervous to do anything really anime related for awhile until I got my scores back then I got a little sad that I didn't get into my program and now I'm just on the mend. So here's the ending to the story, finally. And I may even throw in an extra chapter as like a bonus for an alternate version of how the whole Naraku take down should happen since some of you weren't very fond of it. Honestly I had just really wanted to get the chapter out at the time so that I could finish my story before portfolio time. Plus I don't know if I'm ready yet to end this story, but for now it will be tagged as completed.**

**Anyways, as always R&R and thanks so much for your patience.**


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